Yesterday, 05:41 AM
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. It's white nationalists versus Tech Bros. A populist coalition led by billionaires is absurd, and so absurdity is unavoidable in its internal squabbles. During his first term, Trump issued a temporary freeze on H-1B visas and later issued new restrictions on the H-1B program, though some of these rules were later struck down in court. Some supporters of President-elect Trump are now turning on Musk and the tech bros Trump has tapped for key administration roles.
The fight exposes one of the MAGA movement's deepest contradictions: It came to prominence chiefly via the white, less-educated, working class but is now under the full control of billionaire technologists and industrialists, many of them immigrants.
While some want to make America great by restricting immigration and promoting the American worker, others want to cut costs and increase efficiency no matter who does the work.
The skirmishes started Sunday when Trump named venture capitalist Sriram Krishnan as his adviser on AI policy.
Krishnan's appointment triggered an anti-Indian backlash on social media, particularly given his past advocacy for lifting caps on green cards.
Vivek Ramaswamy escalated the conflict into a full-blown war with a post on X blaming an American culture that "venerated mediocrity over excellence" for the growth in foreign tech workers.
In some recent years, as many as 75% of those petitioning for that visa came from India, from where Ramaswamy's parents immigrated.
Elon Musk condemned a segment of the MAGA movement as "contemptible fools" who should be purged from the Republican Party in a social media post Friday.
So basically there’s a huge racial divide between Indians and White Americans right now and it’s about H1-B visas. White Trumpers are throwing out Indian slurs and saying they can’t get tech jobs, while Indians are saying American culture is cooked because they value football, jocks, video games, and musicians over inventors and coders. It’s Silicon Valley MAGAs vs Redneck MAGAs.
Ramaswamy can’t say unfettered, skilled immigration is good for multinational corporations and the gross domestic product—which it is—so he falls back on great power competition with China as the justification for precisely the exact policies the globalist fat cats want.
And I think it’s hilarious that the MAGA nationalists immediately recognized the sales pitch for what it is. American culture is literally the reason all of those immigrants want to come here, because those immigrants understand better than native Americans that Americans are willing to pay for excellence. Ramawamy’s definition of excellence is deliberately narrow and tailored to the kind of workers his master thinks are essential. But the Haitian workers in Springfield, Ohio, are just as dedicated to professional excellence. Yet the Silicon Valley bros were okay with calling them cat-eaters because they can’t use warehouse or auto parts laborers. Heck, some of them would be happy to automate those jobs out of existence.
MAGA vs. Musk: Right-wing critics allege censorship, loss of X badges
A handful of conservative critics of Elon Musk are alleging censorship and claiming they were stripped of their verification badges on X after challenging his views on H-1B visas for highly skilled foreign workers. Conservatives have long blamed "shadow bans" for censoring them on social media even when there hasn't been explicit proof. However, Musk's X has often been hailed by conservatives as a bastion of free speech.
Trump's conspiracy-minded ally Laura Loomer, New York Young Republican Club president Gavin Wax and InfoWars host Owen Shroyer all said their verification badges disappeared after they criticized Musk's support for H-1B visas, railed against Indian culture and attacked Ramaswamy, Musk's DOGE co-chair.
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.
What made poor working class people believe billionaires cared about them. He told them I don’t care about you I just want your vote what more is there to say to the people who voted for him.
He can probably finesse his way out of this particular “MAGA Civil War.” And this isn’t necessarily the most important fault line—it’s just the first of many. To govern is to choose. When campaigning you can promise everything and anything to everybody. But when you’re setting policy, one group wins and another loses. And it’s going to be particularly popcorn-worthy watching Vice President-elect J.D. Vance try to stay the Golden Boy for both the winners and the losers while never disagreeing with Trump (or Musk).
The fact that some of Trump’s hardcore base literally believes him to be a prophet of God is constantly being overlooked. It DOESN’T MATTER to them what he does, good or bad for us in this life, because they think the end times are imminent, and he’s an instrument of God sent to bring about the second coming of Jesus. Nevermind their disregard for the teachings of Jesus. It will never make sense.
From where I sit, this is just another chapter in the long story of people convincing themselves that Trump is wholly. His promises served their intended purpose: getting him in the White House. The joke is on the people who believed him. on their side only to discover he’s not and never will be. Since these aren’t my monkeys and this is not my circus, I’m happy to watch them all duke it out.
The fight exposes one of the MAGA movement's deepest contradictions: It came to prominence chiefly via the white, less-educated, working class but is now under the full control of billionaire technologists and industrialists, many of them immigrants.
While some want to make America great by restricting immigration and promoting the American worker, others want to cut costs and increase efficiency no matter who does the work.
The skirmishes started Sunday when Trump named venture capitalist Sriram Krishnan as his adviser on AI policy.
Krishnan's appointment triggered an anti-Indian backlash on social media, particularly given his past advocacy for lifting caps on green cards.
Vivek Ramaswamy escalated the conflict into a full-blown war with a post on X blaming an American culture that "venerated mediocrity over excellence" for the growth in foreign tech workers.
In some recent years, as many as 75% of those petitioning for that visa came from India, from where Ramaswamy's parents immigrated.
Elon Musk condemned a segment of the MAGA movement as "contemptible fools" who should be purged from the Republican Party in a social media post Friday.
So basically there’s a huge racial divide between Indians and White Americans right now and it’s about H1-B visas. White Trumpers are throwing out Indian slurs and saying they can’t get tech jobs, while Indians are saying American culture is cooked because they value football, jocks, video games, and musicians over inventors and coders. It’s Silicon Valley MAGAs vs Redneck MAGAs.
Ramaswamy can’t say unfettered, skilled immigration is good for multinational corporations and the gross domestic product—which it is—so he falls back on great power competition with China as the justification for precisely the exact policies the globalist fat cats want.
And I think it’s hilarious that the MAGA nationalists immediately recognized the sales pitch for what it is. American culture is literally the reason all of those immigrants want to come here, because those immigrants understand better than native Americans that Americans are willing to pay for excellence. Ramawamy’s definition of excellence is deliberately narrow and tailored to the kind of workers his master thinks are essential. But the Haitian workers in Springfield, Ohio, are just as dedicated to professional excellence. Yet the Silicon Valley bros were okay with calling them cat-eaters because they can’t use warehouse or auto parts laborers. Heck, some of them would be happy to automate those jobs out of existence.
MAGA vs. Musk: Right-wing critics allege censorship, loss of X badges
A handful of conservative critics of Elon Musk are alleging censorship and claiming they were stripped of their verification badges on X after challenging his views on H-1B visas for highly skilled foreign workers. Conservatives have long blamed "shadow bans" for censoring them on social media even when there hasn't been explicit proof. However, Musk's X has often been hailed by conservatives as a bastion of free speech.
Trump's conspiracy-minded ally Laura Loomer, New York Young Republican Club president Gavin Wax and InfoWars host Owen Shroyer all said their verification badges disappeared after they criticized Musk's support for H-1B visas, railed against Indian culture and attacked Ramaswamy, Musk's DOGE co-chair.
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.
What made poor working class people believe billionaires cared about them. He told them I don’t care about you I just want your vote what more is there to say to the people who voted for him.
He can probably finesse his way out of this particular “MAGA Civil War.” And this isn’t necessarily the most important fault line—it’s just the first of many. To govern is to choose. When campaigning you can promise everything and anything to everybody. But when you’re setting policy, one group wins and another loses. And it’s going to be particularly popcorn-worthy watching Vice President-elect J.D. Vance try to stay the Golden Boy for both the winners and the losers while never disagreeing with Trump (or Musk).
The fact that some of Trump’s hardcore base literally believes him to be a prophet of God is constantly being overlooked. It DOESN’T MATTER to them what he does, good or bad for us in this life, because they think the end times are imminent, and he’s an instrument of God sent to bring about the second coming of Jesus. Nevermind their disregard for the teachings of Jesus. It will never make sense.
From where I sit, this is just another chapter in the long story of people convincing themselves that Trump is wholly. His promises served their intended purpose: getting him in the White House. The joke is on the people who believed him. on their side only to discover he’s not and never will be. Since these aren’t my monkeys and this is not my circus, I’m happy to watch them all duke it out.