Texas Democratic Representative Jasmine Crockett has claimed President-elect Donald Trump's MAGA base "got played" by business tycoons Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, amid an ongoing social media row about the H-1B skilled migrant worker program.
Crockett made the claim late on Thursday in a post on Musk-owned platform X, formerly Twitter, commenting: "I won't have enough tea to sip nor popcorn to eat over the next 4 years!"
Newsweek contacted Ramaswamy and Trump's 2024 presidential transition team for comment by email on Friday outside of regular office hours. Musk was also contacted via the Tesla and SpaceX press offices.
I won't have enough tea to sip nor popcorn to eat over the next 4 years! I've done countless interviews explaining that we need immigrants and that they contribute to our economy! Businesses blow us up about needing workers.
And what do ya know?! MAGA got played & is mad at...
Why It Matters
The past few days have seen open conflict among Trump supporters over the H-1B worker program, and legal immigration to the U.S. more broadly. This has pitted some of the former and future president's most influential supporters from the tech and business world, such as Musk and Ramaswamy, against more nativist figures like Laura Loomer.
Not so long ago, MAGA fans were praising Musk and Ramaswamy for their federal cost-cutting proposals, an initiative dubbed the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
Once in office, Trump is likely to face competing pressures from his supporters in big business and Silicon Valley, who use H-1B visas to bring specialist employees to the U.S., and anti-immigration campaigners who believe this is at the expanse of American workers.
What To Know
Crockett said: "I won't have enough tea to sip nor popcorn to eat over the next 4 years! I've done countless interviews explaining that we need immigrants and that they contribute to our economy! Businesses blow us up about needing workers.
"And what do ya know?! MAGA got played & is mad at who?! The same 2 guys that they were just yelling was looking out for them last week as the government was on the verge of a shutdown!"
The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant work visa in the United States that allows U.S. companies to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations. These occupations typically require theoretical or technical expertise in fields such as information technology (IT), engineering, mathematics, finance, medicine, science, or other professional disciplines.
The number is currently capped at 65,000 per year, though an additional 20,000 visas are made available annually for foreigners who graduate in the U.S. with a master's degree or doctorate.
Conflict between rival Trump supporters erupted after Loomer criticized the incoming president's decision to appoint Sriram Krishnan, an Indian born technology entrepreneur, as his senior policy advisor on artificial intelligence (AI). Loomer noted Krishnan had previously called for the H-1B visas scheme to be expanded, a position she claimed was "in direct opposition" to Trump's agenda.
Ramaswamy, who stood against Trump for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination before standing aside and endorsing him, published an extended X post defending legal migration for "foreign-born" engineers which received over 63 million views.
He said: "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.
"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."
What People Are Saying
Speaking to Newsweek, Mark Shanahan, an American politics expert who teaches at the University of Surrey in the U.K., said: "Alliance with Trump offers access to power to many disparate opinions - most of whom would never choose to cross paths outside the Beltway bubble. Musk & co are motivated only by burnishing their wealth while their opponents in the H1-B spat gain power by continually playing the immigration card.
"These factions will never reconcile, and this week's social media storm is merely a harbinger of the chaos that could engulf the new presidency even before Trump gets his feet under the Resolute desk."
In an X post on Thursday, economics commentator Jason Harrison said: "People on tech twitter are actually shocked that some of their mutuals aren't 'only for legal immigration' and just straight up racist LMAO."
Conservative commentator Jesse Kelly wrote: "White kids with great college degrees cannot find jobs and most cannot even get a return phone call. That is happening. It's all around me.
"And when that's happening, you're never gonna sell legal immigration to people. Ever. Period."
What Happens Next
After being inaugurated on January 20, 2025, Trump will have to decide what changes, if any, he wants to make to the legal immigration process.
In June, whilst speaking to tech entrepreneur David Sacks, Trump suggested international students who graduate from American universities should receive green cards.
He said, "If you graduate or you get a doctorate degree from a college, you should be able to stay in this country."
However Trump has also pledged a mass deportation campaign targeted at illegal migrants in the country.
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