Musk And Ramaswamy Back Foreign Tech Workers, Sparking Rift In MAGA Trump Camp & Twitter Firestorm

Billionaires Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, advisers to President-elect Donald Trump on federal spending, are urging support for foreign tech workers – a stance that has ignited a Twitter firestorm among Trump's far-right base.

The debate over immigration policy and the tech industry's reliance on skilled labor is at the core of the rift between Trump’s nationalist supporters and the Silicon Valley leaders backing his administration, underscoring potential challenges for Trump, who takes office on January 20, 2025.

Big Tech’s Reliance On Foreign Talent

The tech sector has long championed the H-1B visa program, which enables U.S. companies to hire thousands of foreign engineers and specialists annually, primarily from India and China. However, Trump's first administration restricted the program in 2020, arguing it displaced American workers with lower-paid foreign employees.

Musk, a former H-1B visa holder whose company Tesla TSLA has utilized the program, defended the industry's position in a Dec. 25, post on X, "There is a permanent shortage of excellent engineering talent. It is the fundamental limiting factor in Silicon Valley."

Ramaswamy went further. "‘Normalcy' doesn't cut it in a hyper-competitive global market for technical talent. And if we pretend like it does, we'll have our asses handed to us by China," he wrote in a long X post.

"Our American culture has venerated mediocrity over excellence for way too long (at least since the 90s and likely longer). That doesn't start in college, it starts YOUNG," he continued.

Laura Loomer Looms Over MAGA

Earlier in the week, Laura Loomer, a far-right activist known for racist and conspiratorial remarks, criticized Trump's decision to name Sriram Krishnan as an adviser on artificial intelligence policy. Krishnan supports bringing more skilled immigrants into the U.S., which Loomer called "not America First policy" and accused tech executives of self-enrichment.

Loomer’s comments provoked commentary on X from venture capitalist and former PayPal PYPL executive David Sacks, Trump's newly appointed "White House A.I. & Crypto Czar," who said on Wednesday that attacks against Krishnan “have become crude.”

Late Friday, Loomer tweeted that Musk had censored her account “in retaliation for speaking out about Big Tech and immigration” And that “MAGA is under attack."

Nikki Haley, former U.N. Ambassador and 2024 presidential candidate, also took to X on Thursday to blast Ramaswamy.

Read More: Nikki Haley Blasts DOGE Co-Head Vivek Ramaswamy For His Take On ‘American Culture’ — ‘All You Have To Do Is Look At The Border And See How Many Want What We Have’

Where Does Trump Stand?

While Trump has not yet weighed in on the intensifying Twitter squabble, his positions over the years have reflected the divide in his movement. His tough immigration policies, including his threat of mass deportation, were central to his campaign

That said, the online feud reflects the challenges Trump could face in keeping his MAGA base and his Silicon Valley billionaires playing nice together.

"It's a sign of future conflicts," said Samuel Hammond, a senior economist at the Foundation for American Innovation. "This is like the pregame."

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