Elon Musk: We’ll Rip Your Face Off’ in Visa Battle
Steve Bannon, former White House strategist and a key figure in Donald Trump’s political orbit, issued a fiery warning to Elon Musk on Tuesday.
On his War Room podcast, Bannon cautioned Musk—and others in the tech world who align with MAGA principles—that unless they abandon support for visas allowing skilled foreign workers into the U.S., they could face significant backlash.
“We’re going to rip your face off,” Bannon declared, directing his ire at Musk for advocating policies that, according to Bannon, take lucrative tech jobs away from Americans. He urged Musk to “sit back and study” to grasp the fundamentals of MAGA’s “America First” philosophy, which prioritizes reserving U.S. jobs for American workers.
Bannon likened Musk and other late arrivals to the movement to “recent converts” who need to earn their place. “We love converts,” Bannon said. “But converts sit in the back and study for years to understand the faith, its nuances, and how to internalize it. Don’t come up and start preaching in your first week.”
Bannon also called for a “100% moratorium on all immigration until we get this thing sorted,” underscoring his hardline stance on visa policies.
He doubled down on his criticism of Musk, accusing him and other tech leaders of undermining the middle class through reliance on foreign labor. On Monday, Bannon even suggested that Musk and his peers owe “reparations” for the damage done to American workers.
Musk, who previously contributed at least $250 million to Trump’s election efforts, has recently stirred controversy by endorsing H-1B visas, which allow skilled foreign workers to fill positions in the U.S. tech industry.
This move, coupled with a since-deleted post on his platform X (formerly Twitter) endorsing a derogatory remark about American workers, has sparked outrage.
https://www.icaster.co.uk/trumps-lead-border-adviser-pledges-return-of-family-detention/Musk’s businesses, including Tesla and SpaceX, have been key beneficiaries of these visas, and his stance has drawn sharp criticism from MAGA loyalists.
Adding to the drama, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy—another tech leader and former rival of Trump in the GOP presidential race—has echoed Musk’s views, blaming a “dumbed-down culture” in the U.S. for the perceived lack of competitiveness among American workers.
Both Musk and Ramaswamy have been tasked by the president-elect with streamlining the federal government through a new initiative dubbed “DOGE.” Their recent advocacy for foreign skilled labor, however, puts them at odds with MAGA’s hardline stance on immigration and job protection.
Trump has backed Musk on the many “great” foreign workers in the country on H-1B visas, surprising many of the MAGA supporters who voted for him.
Musk doesn’t appear to be budging, even though he has, out of character, suddenly called for a more “positive” and “beautiful” social media conversation. He made the appeal two days after he told H-1B opponents in a diatribe on X: “F*** yourself in the face.” Bannon came back with a different idea for Musk’s face.