It's difficult to view anything Cole does today without extreme cynicism. In this article, he claims:
If one considers what I would’ve made by acting the role deniers wanted me to, I’d have profited a good bit more than $7 grand. Indeed, the very notion I “flipped” for money is certifiably insane. There’s no money in the position I’ve held since 1994 - vigorously anti-denial but also highly critical of how orgs like the ADL and Wiesenthal Center fight denial.
But in fact he has previously talked about how lucrative his self-described "both sides" position was in the period from 1994 to 2007. From
Republican Party Animal:
“Cal” sold the footage to almost every Holocaust studies department in the Western world. And then “Desmond” used Farr’s faxes (which he claimed to have bought on the Holocaust “black market”) in order to sell the “fraudulent” footage to revisionists as an example of staged Soviet fakes.
And so it went. For several years, I would sell materials to both sides. Using a complex series of DBAs, both “Cal” and “Desmond” had their own business accounts, and the money was pouring in. As my own views had become more complex when I left revisionism, I didn’t think I was completely lying, as I partially agreed with both the mainstream and the revisionist positions. But since I knew that those two “sides” could never be brought together, I realized I’d have to cater to each one individually.
Stein was becoming so well known, I even received a death threat from a neo-Nazi! Immediately seizing on the profitability of that, I decided to send a copy of the letter to the entire Tinbergen Archives mailing list, explaining to them why this letter demonstrated the need to contribute to the good works of the Tinbergen Archives. That death threat brought in a hell of a lot of money.
My Tinbergen Archives mailing list had become a hot property. [...] and I was able to trade my list for dozens of others [...] I also made some decent cash by selling the list [...]
At that point in my life, I had more money than I’d ever had [...]
So I think his statements on this matter are somewhat self-serving. Also quite funny to hear that Peter Thiel offered him money.
I'll give him credit for still being funny, with this pitch:
David Cole presents WOODEN DOORS - THE MOTION PICTURE, produced by Elon Musk and United Autists. Executive produced by JD Vance, Tucker Carlson, His Royal Highness Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and Theo Vonn. Hosted by David Cole, with Gina Carano as the Wooden Door and David Spade as a Zyklon granule.