Tech billionaire Elon Musk's vow to "go to war" to defend H-1B visas has raised eyebrows from some on social media.
Newsweek reached out to Musk's social media platform X, formerly Twitter, via email for comment from the tech mogul on Saturday morning.
Why It Matters
Musk's comments posted on X on Friday night come amid an intense dispute within Trump's Make America Great Again (MAGA) coalition over H-1B visas, a highly competitive visa program that allows American companies to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations, and legal immigration more generally.
Musk, a South African naturalized U.S. citizen who at one point in time held an H1-B visa, and his future co-leader of Trump's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, have voiced support for bringing skilled foreign workers into the U.S.
Once in office, Trump could struggle to placate both those in business who believe skilled legal migration boosts the U.S. economy and those of his supporters who think it takes place at the expense of American workers.
What To Know
On Friday night, Steven Mackey, an X user interested in politics with less than 12,000 followers, went viral for a post responding to a video of Musk talking about the operations of his company SpaceX, in which Musk said: "Possibly the most common error of a smart engineer is to optimize a thing that shouldn't exist."
"Stop trying to optimize something that shouldn't exist," Mackey wrote in response to the video pretending to be the voice of Musk, "Let's optimize H-1B."
The post has received 1.5 million views as of Saturday morning.
Musk replied to Mackey's post on Friday: "The reason I'm in America along with so many critical people who built SpaceX, Tesla and hundreds of other companies that made America strong is because of H1B. Take a big step back and F*** YOURSELF in the face. I will go to war on this issue the likes of which you cannot possibly comprehend."
The tech tycoon's post, meanwhile, has received 5.8 million views as of Saturday morning.
Mackey quickly replied to Musk, writing, in part, "I personally am fine with reforming H1B, and as I've stated multiple times today, I am incredibly grateful you and many others are in the country because of H1B."
This row over the H-1B visa program erupted after conservative activist Laura Loomer criticized Trump's appointment of Indian-born entrepreneur Sriram Krishnan as his senior policy adviser on artificial intelligence (AI). Loomer noted Krishnan's previous support for making it easier for skilled foreigners to work in the U.S., which Loomer claimed on X was "in direct opposition" to the Trump agenda.
What People Are Saying
Loomer wrote on X Friday night, "It's now escalated to threats of 'war'. Wow. Shocking."
Ron Filipkowski, editor-in-chief of MeidasTouch and a frequent Trump critic, wrote on X Friday night, "Holy s***" and shared a screenshot of Musk's post.
In a follow-up post, he wrote: "Musk is telling Trump supporters to go f*** themselves while Trump just wrapped up another set of Studio 54 hits in the ballroom at MAL after a tough day of golf."
Jon Cooper, a former Long Island, New York, campaign chair for former President Barack Obama, wrote on X Saturday morning, "Hey MAGA, this one's for you. To quote Elon, if you don't agree with him, you can 'take a big step back and F*** YOURSELF in the face.'"
Political analyst Aleksandar Djokic wrote on X Saturday morning of Musk, "That's one ungrateful immigrant right there."
Karen Piper, an academic who focuses on globalization, wrote on X early Saturday morning, "I wish the MSM [mainstream media] would report what Elon is actually saying to Trump supporters, which is, 'F*** YOURSELF in the face.' I wonder how we can get this message out to a larger audience."
What Happens Next
While Trump's plans to crack down on illegal immigration have broad support across his base, the president-elect will have to walk a tightrope on legal immigration following his inauguration on January 20 if he is to avoid alienating a powerful section of his supporters.
Trump suggested international students graduating from American universities should be given green cards during an interview on the All-In podcast in June.
"If you graduate or you get a doctorate degree from a college, you should be able to stay in this country," he said.
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