Elon Musk has threatened to “go to war” with MAGA Republicans after defending visas for skilled foreigners.
The Tesla founder and billionaire, who was recruited by US President-elect Donald Trump to co-lead his new Department of Government Efficiency, has expressed support for the H-1B visa, which allows highly educated immigrants to work. in the United States for up to six years.
His comments on the immigration visa came after pharmaceutical entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who will co-lead DOGE with Musk, said this week that American culture was to blame for its need to hire foreign workers.
“A culture that celebrates the prom queen over the Olympic math champion, or the athlete over the top student in a class, will not produce the best engineers,” he said in X.
To that, Musk responded in a tweet that has since been deleted: “That sums it up pretty well.” “This was eye-opening.”
The billionaire’s comments have angered several Republicans who take an anti-immigration stance, which was a key feature of Trump’s election campaign.
However, Musk responded and promised to expel “hateful and unrepentant racists” from the Republican Party in an X post.
He also tweeted that “the reason I am in America along with so many critical people who built SpaceX, Tesla and hundreds of other companies that made America strong is because of the H1B visa.”
Elon Musk has threatened to ‘go to war’ with MAGA Republicans after defending visas for qualified foreigners
Donald Trump chose Musk as head of the new Department of Government Efficiency
‘Take a big step back and F*** in the face. I will go to war over an issue that you cannot possibly understand.”
In another tweet, he said: “America achieved greatness in the last 150 years, because it was more of a meritocracy than any other place on Earth.”
“I will fight to the last drop of blood to ensure that it remains that land of freedom and opportunity.”
Trump’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon responded to one of Musk’s tweets by saying, “Someone please notify Child Protective Services; a welfare check needs to be done on this child.”
Meanwhile, Trump’s former ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, said: “There is nothing wrong with American workers or American culture…
‘The only thing you have to do is look at the border and see how many want what we have. “We should invest and prioritize Americans, not foreign workers.”
Since then, at least 14 Republican
President-elect Donald Trump listens to Elon Musk as he arrives to watch SpaceX’s Starship mega rocket lift off for a test flight from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, on November 19.
Musk was born in South Africa and became a US citizen in 2002.
He has made it clear that he wants exceptions to MAGA’s anti-immigration stance for the top 0.1% of foreign engineering talent, saying it is “essential for the United States to continue winning.”
The United States is “mostly Americans,” he noted, whom he considers “re***ed.”
The dispute is the first within the coalition convened by Trump, which brought together Republican voters and the technology giant that contributed to his second presidential victory.