Steve Bannon has labeled Elon Musk a "toddler" after the tech billionaire urged opponents of H-1B skilled migrant worker visas to "F*** YOURSELF in the face."
Bannon, who served as Donald Trump's White House chief strategist for seven months in 2017, made the comment on social media platform Gettr, which is primarily used by conservatives.
Newsweek emailed Elon Musk via the Tesla and SpaceX press offices and Steve Bannon via his war room podcast for comment.
Why It Matters
Bannon's comments are just the latest salvo in an increasingly bitter row within Trump's MAGA [Make America Great Again] coalition over H-1B visas, and legal immigration more generally, which has pitted some of his key supporters in big business and Silicon Valley against more nativist elements.
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
In a post on his X social media platform, formerly Twitter, South African-born Musk commented: "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."
A screenshot of the post was shared by Bannon on Gettr, with Trump's former strategist and 2016 campaign manager adding: "Someone please notify 'Child Protective Services'— need to do a 'wellness check' on this toddler."
The row over H-1B visas erupted after conservative activist Laura Loomer criticized Trump's appointment of Indian-born entrepreneur Sriram Krishnan as his senior policy adviser on artificial intelligence. On X Loomer noted Krishan had previously argued the H-1B visa scheme should be expanded, which she claimed was "in direct opposition" to the Trump agenda.
The H-1B visa allows American companies to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations. These 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.
Vivek Ramaswamy, a Trump-supporting businessman who was picked by the President-elect to run the newly created Department of Government Efficiency alongside Musk, defended legal migration in an X post that received over 63 million views, though critics argued he was attacking American workers.
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
Mark Shanahan, who teaches American politics at the University of Surrey in the U.K., told Newsweek: "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 and 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."
Laura Loomer commented on X: "Read the room! @elonmusk. You bought your way into MAGA 5 minutes ago after Trump almost had his head blown off in Butler. Remember when you voted for Biden and propped up @GovRonDeSantis and you said Trump was too old?
"We all know you only donated your money so you could influence immigration policy and protect your buddy Xi JinPing."
The influential conservative "End Wokeness" X account, which has over 3.3 million followers, posted: "We can debate and have dialogue but it would be foolish to alienate Elon in the process. Look how that turned out for the left."
Political and economic commentator Joey Politano wrote: "People who clapped for the 'Haitians are eating your pets' routine are doing a shocked pikachu face that their coalition partners don't drop the racism for immigrants with comp sci degrees. Spare me the indignation, and start with The Big Guy if you want to root out the hatred."
What Happens Next
While his plans to crackdown on illegal immigration have broad support across the right, Trump 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.
During an interview with tech entrepreneur David Sacks in June, Trump suggested international students graduating from American universities should be given 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."
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