Brandon Bell/Pool via AP
Elon Musk hit back on Friday at the “contemptible fools” that he argued must be removed from the Republican Party amid a MAGA civil war over immigration.
Vivek Ramaswamy and Musk irked the hard right of the GOP and MAGA base when they defended the use of H-1B visas to bring high-skilled migrant workers into the U.S.
Ramaswamy sparked the MAGA world infighting on Thursday when he made the argument that the U.S. needs to import high-skilled workers as American culture has led to mediocrity in the population.
“Our American culture has venerated mediocrity over excellence for way too long (at least since the 90s and likely longer),” wrote Ramaswamy after several MAGA influencers slammed President-elect Donald Trump’s hiring of a prominent Indian American tech executive into his administration.
Former Biden advisor Neera Tanden wrote on in X in reply to attacks on Indian Americans, “I am an Indian American who was born here and it’s crystal clear that the Democratic Party sees me as American and a large part of the base of the Republican Party does not. I hope Indian Americans remember this moment at the next election. They don’t see you as one of them. And never will.”
“You thought they just hated other immigrants. But it turns out there’s no exception for you. As many of us have been telling you,” she added.
Dilbert creator and hard right pundit Scott Adams shared Tanden’s post and wrote, “MAGA is taking a page from Democrats on how to lose elections while feeling good about themselves.”
Musk replied to Adams and wrote, “Yes. And those contemptible fools must be removed from the Republican Party, root and stem.”
Musk has found himself under fire from many in the MAGA base, including influential voices like Steve Bannon and Laura Loomer. Axios reported on the infighting and noted that “A virtual right-wing civil war has broken out over race, class, immigration and the future of President-elect Trump’s movement, and Musk is increasingly at odds with Trump’s historic base.” The report added:
The schism may force Trump to ultimately take sides between the largely white, working-class supporters who first made MAGA succeed, and the techno-libertarian billionaires like Musk who are at the center of his new administration.
“He’s declaring war on us btw. Should go over well for him as it has for everyone else who has tried,” replied far-right Gab CEO Andrew Torba to Musk’s post.
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