Donald Trump’s former White House strategist called the tech mogul a “really unpleasant person” and said preventing him before January 20 was “a non-public matter. “
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Donald Trump’s former senior advisor Steve Bannon has taken another swipe at Elon Musk, claiming he will personally see that the billionaire is “kicked out” of the president-elect’s inner-circle prior to his inauguration next week.
MAGA’s infighting intensified Sunday after Bannon criticized Musk over the H-1B program, which allows U. S. employers to factor in transient nonimmigrant visas in an effort to close skills gaps in sectors that require highly specialized knowledge.
Trump’s first term White House chief strategist, who was fired after seven months in August 2017, branded Musk as a “truly evil person” and declared decreasing his influence on the incoming commander-in chief has become “personal”.
“I will have Elon Musk expelled at the time of his inauguration. He will be like everyone else,” Bannon told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, his comments translated into English.
“He’s a truly evil person. Stopping him has become a personal issue for me. Before, since he’s put in so much money, I was prepared to tolerate it. Not anymore.”
Musk, who has earned the nickname “first friend” for his near-constant presence around Trump since the president-elect went to the polls in November, will head the newly created unofficial Department of Government Effectiveness with a vice presidential hopeful, Vivek. Ramaswamy.
He reportedly spent more than $270 million of his own money to help reelect Trump during the election cycle, a majority of which via his super-political action committee, America PAC.
The fiercely anti-immigrant Trumpworld sect was plunged into a state of turmoil after Silicon Valley tech figures, led by Musk and Ramaswamy, came out in favor of the visas, which are intended for highly professional immigrants working in the fields of technology, fitness and engineering. and finance.
Bannon claims that visas, in turn, deprive Americans of jobs.
“The challenge is that technofeudalists do it on their own merits and other people are furious,” Bannon continued.
The veteran Trump loyalist argued that Musk, who was born in South Africa and previously held an H-1B visa, was only serving his own interests by supporting the program, and the Tesla CEO was profiting on his own from the hiring qualified foreign personnel. account. business.
Bannon then put Musk in the same basket as fellow South African tech billionaires David Sachs and Peter Thiel, telling them to return to South Africa.
“Why do we have white South Africans, the most racist people in the world, commenting on everything that happens in America?” asked.
“He will do anything to make sure that every company he owns is protected or has a better deal or makes more money. The aggregation of wealth and, through wealth, power: that is his goal. American workers will not tolerate it.”
Bannon went on to say that Musk’s sole purpose is to be a “billionaire. “In another section, the former Breitbart editor said he “kicked [Musk] out of the White House every day for 30 consecutive days in 2017 while trying to get U. S. staff to pay subsidies. “
The online war of words began gaining momentum last month after Musk endorsed an article that called U. S. staff too “re******” to fill highly skilled tech jobs for which foreign staff were being hired. .
Trump, who in his first term restricted the use of visas and said they were “very bad” for American workers, sided with Musk, telling the New York Post on December 28 that he had “always been in favor of visas. ” .
He added: “I have many H-1B visas on my properties. Me on the H-1B. I have used it several times. It is a perfect program. Bannon emphasized in the Corriere interview that he and Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders were on the same side of the debate.
“I love Bernie, who just joined the H1B visa party. We’ve been fighting this war for 10 years and Bernie hasn’t said a word about everything the Democratic Party takes away from techno-feudalists. “
Hours earlier, Musk said that “hateful, unrepentant racists” must be eliminated from the Republican Party “root to root,” calling his critics “despicable fools. “
“America achieved greatness in the last 150 years because it is a meritocracy more than anywhere else on Earth,” he wrote about blood to ensure that it remains this land of freedom and opportunity. Training”
Bannon on Gettr: “Bring it, dude, everything. »
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