Musk Tries to Temper Outrage Over H-1B Visa Comments
Last week, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy created a storm within MAGA when they touted using H-1B visas to bring better engineers and other high-end skilled labor into the country.
There was significant pushback on social media from the MAGA faithful, which has caused Musk to dial back his encouragement of the program moving forward.
Musk’s Original Comments
On importing more high-end talent to the United States, Musk stated, "There is a permanent shortage of excellent engineering talent. It is the fundamental limiting factor in Silicon Valley. The number of people who are super-talented engineers AND super motivated in the USA is far too low.”
As I stated in a previous report, sometimes it is not what you say, but how you say it. People were already hot, then Ramaswamy added, "American culture has venerated mediocrity over excellence. A culture that celebrates the prom queen over the math olympiad [sic] champ, or the jock over the valedictorian, will not produce the best engineers."
Trump also chimed in, expressing his support for the program, even admitting that he has used this program extensively in staffing his organization, stating, “I’ve always liked the visas, I have always been in favor of the visas. That’s why we have them. I have many H-1B visas on my properties. I’ve been a believer in H-1B. I have used it many times. It’s a great program.”
MAGA was furious, as Trump supporters are looking to even dial back legal immigration for the time being until all the illegals that were permitted to enter the country under the Biden administration are sent back across the border once Trump takes office.
MAGA Pushes Back
The Trump faithful were not happy, and the media, Democrats, and liberals pounced, telling MAGA that Trump has been lying to them all along.
Rather than paying domestic talent, Trump had just openly admitted that he was using the H-1B program to import foreign talent, likely costing him far less in salary than if he had hired American citizens.
One of Trump’s biggest advocates on social media, Laura Loomer, who has been spewing venom at anyone daring not to support Trump for years, stated, "Our country was built by white Europeans, actually. Not third-world invaders from India. It's not racist against Indians to want the original MAGA policies I voted for. I voted for a reduction in H-1B visas. Not an extension."
Scott Jennings, a conservative CNN contributor, blasted Ramaswamy but seemed to steer clear of Trump and Musk, stating, “Somebody got stuffed in a locker, I’m not going to say who. Look, I think there’s a way to solve this and talk about this that doesn’t denigrate all of American culture. I mean, I’m now understanding more and more how he got 100 votes in Iowa or whatever it was he got during the Iowa Caucus.”
Musk Walks It Back a Little
After telling people who called out Musk to “F*** yourself,” Musk got an earful from the MAGA faithful and decided to try to calm these waters a bit.
He changed his tune and recommended how the H-1B visa program could be “fixed” to benefit the American workforce, stating, “Easily fixed by raising the minimum salary significantly and adding a yearly cost for maintaining the H1B, making it materially more expensive to hire from overseas than domestically.”
He added, “I’ve been very clear that the program is broken and needs major reform. I’m confident that the changes made in the @realDonaldTrump administration will make America much stronger.”
As I stated in yesterday’s report, education here in the United States needs to be addressed because there is simply no reason for our country to be importing talent in any industry. However, if it is imported, I do like Musk’s idea of making companies pay fees as well as ensuring minimum salary requirements are met to ensure our salaries are not being driven down because of foreign labor. I can guarantee you Trump was using the program to save money, and he may have opened up a can of worms by openly backing Musk and Ramaswamy in their initial statements.
