By GB News (World News) | Created at 2024-12-28 20:21:02 | Updated at 2024-12-29 11:43:03
15 hours ago
Elon Musk has claimed he will "go to war" with Maga over skilled migrant visas and has vowed to kick out any "hateful, unrepentant racists".
The Tesla billionaire launched an extraordinary attack on critics of the H-1B visa programme, telling them to "take a big step back and F*** YOURSELF in the face".
The row marks the first major split in the president-elect's camp, pitting Silicon Valley supporters against immigration hawks within the Republican Party.
The dispute has intensified after conservative activists criticised Trump's appointment of Indian-born entrepreneur Sriram Krishnan as his senior policy adviser on artificial intelligence.
Elon Musk came to America from South Africa on an H-1B visa
Reuters
Matt Gaetz took a shot at the 'tech bros'
Reuters
Vivek Ramaswamy, appointed as Musk's co-chair on Trump's new advisory board, sparked controversy by suggesting American culture venerates mediocrity over excellence.
"A culture that celebrates the prom queen over the math olympiad champ, or the jock over the valedictorian, will not produce the best engineers," he posted.
Musk earlier posted on X that welcoming elite engineering talent from abroad was "essential for America to keep winning."
Trump previously opposed H-1B visas during his 2016 campaign, calling them "unfair for our workers."
Maga figures have responded with fury to what they see as Silicon Valley's intrusion into immigration policy.
"We welcomed the tech bros when they came running our way to avoid the 3rd grade teacher picking their kid's gender," said congressman Matt Gaetz. "We did not ask them to engineer an immigration policy."
Conservative activist Laura Loomer claimed she was censored on X after criticising H-1B visas.
Donald Trump has remained silent during all this
Reuters
"Full censorship of my account simply because I called out H1B visas," she posted. "This is anti-American behavior by tech oligarchs. What happened to free speech?"
Many Maga supporters are pushing for complete border closure whilst illegal entry issues are addressed.
Trump has remained silent during what Politico has dubbed "Musk vs Maga."
The president-elect faces a delicate balancing act between business interests and his core supporters' immigration concerns.
In a June podcast interview, Trump suggested international students graduating from American universities should receive green cards.
"If you graduate or you get a doctorate degree from a college, you should be able to stay in this country," he said.
