'Must be removed from the Republican Party': Elon Musk blasts MAGA as 'contemptible fools'

28 December 2024

The civil war over immigration currently raging within the Republican Party has also now looped in billionaire X owner Elon Musk.

Earlier on Friday, the New Republic reported on the internecine warfare erupting between the hardline, anti-immigrant MAGA wing of the Republican Party, and the Silicon Valley libertarian wing that makes up a significant portion of the modern-day GOP's donor base. Musk and fellow billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy — who are spearheading an effort to impose steep budget cuts on social safety nets, labor protections and environmental regulations — have suggested the GOP not be so hasty in its efforts to curb immigration to the United States given companies' need for skilled labor made possible via the H-1B visa program.

"There is a permanent shortage of excellent engineering talent. It is the fundamental limiting factor in Silicon Valley," Musk tweeted on Christmas Day. He wrote in a separate tweet that in the United States, "the number of people who are super talented engineers AND super motivated" was "far too low."

"It comes down to this: do you want America to WIN or do you want America to LOSE. If you force the world’s best talent to play for the other side, America will LOSE,” Musk wrote in another X post.

This ruffled the feathers of former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, who suggested on his "War Room" podcast that the call for expanded H-1B visas is a ploy to stiff-arm American workers seeking employment in the tech industry.

"H-1B visas? That’s not what it’s about. It’s about taking American jobs and bringing over essentially what have become indentured servants at lower wages," Bannon said. "This thing’s a scam by the oligarchs in Silicon Valley to basically take jobs from American citizens, give them to what become indentured servants from foreign countries, and then pay ‘em less. Simple. To let them in through the golden door."

Far-right Rumble broadcaster Stew Peters — an avowed white supremacist who has praised Adolf Hitler in the past — also weighed in, tweeting an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory to his 754,000 followers while also maligning Indian Americans. Democratic activist Neera Tanden then posted a viral tweet pointing out that while the Democratic Party "sees me as an American," the Republican Party "does not." She then wrote: "They don't see you as one of them. And they never will."

"You thought they just hated other immigrants. But it turns out there's no exception for you," she tweeted. "As many of us have been telling you."

Tanden's tweet prompted "Dilbert" creator Scott Adams — who is now a prominent conservative social media influencer — to quote-tweet Tanden while commenting: MAGA is taking a page from Democrats on how to lose elections while feeling good about themselves." Musk responded positively to Adams' tweet, and included a stern message to the anti-immigrant bloc of the GOP.

"[T]hose contemptible fools must be removed from the Republican Party, root and stem," Musk tweeted.

Click here to read the New Republic's article in full.

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