Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy and other members of President-elect Donald Trump's Silicon Valley coalition are clashing with the radical anti-immigrant faction of the MAGA movement, and it's reportedly resulted in Musk taking away the verification badges of far-right critics on Are.
The conflict centers on Musk and Ramaswamy's recent praise of foreign tech workers, which began shortly after Indian immigrant Sriram Krishnan Trump's AI and crypto czar joins David Sachs' team. This has pitted Trump's tech mogul donor class against his old network of activists and far-right influencers such as Trump partner Laura Loomer Especially with the increase in racist rhetoric against Indian Americans. The ugly, extremely online battle between US far-right influence networks currently parallels the immigration debate Being taken out more quietly in Washington,
Anti-immigrant rhetoric was a cornerstone of Trump's appeal to voters; at the top of the hype false, racist rumors About immigrants and possible mass deportations destabilize the US economyhe is expected to be revived Action on H-1B visa Which he had imposed during his first term. At the same time, Trump is relying heavily on support from parts of Silicon Valley, which relies on the H-1B program for engineers and other skilled workers. Both of these positions have representation in Trump's inner circle: Trump's homeland security adviser would be Immigration action proponent Stephen MillerFor example, while Sachs will shape tech policy and Musk and Ramaswamy will lead the informal “Department of Government Efficiency” or DOGE.
“These attacks have become blatant, and not in the spirit of the holidays.”
The underlying tension became apparent when Sachs announced Krishnan's appointment to the X, then came under attack from popular pro-Trump voices. Loomer, who joined Trump on the campaign trail, pic said Pointing to a post by Krishnan calling for DOGE to “unlock skilled immigration” he found “extremely disturbing.” Another user's response, highlighted by Sachs, asked, “Did any of you vote for this Indian to run America?” sax answered this “Shriram has been a US citizen for a decade. He's not 'running America.' … These attacks are not in the spirit of the holidays, but have become ugly.”
After this, Musk and Ramaswamy fueled the controversy by praising immigrant workers. (Of course, Musk himself came to the US from South Africa allegedly illegal circumstances.) “If you want your team to win championships, you have to recruit top talent, no matter where they are,” Musk posted onIndirectly supports channels such as the H-1B program. Musk said he would “of course” prefer to hire Americans rather than go through the “painful and slow” work visa process, but “there is a severe shortage of extremely talented and motivated engineers in the United States.”
Ramaswami voiced with a principle That American pop culture is like a 90s sitcom family Matters “mediocrity is more respectable than excellence.” An ex-engineer escalated the situation by claiming that In a series of posts, Musk said, “America would not exist if it were not for Indian excellence,” which Musk called “a bit of an exaggeration.”
Conversely, people like Loomer began criticizing Musk – questioning his claims about the need for foreign workers, Criticism of Tesla's H-1B payAnd calling him “Full pressure on Trump's transition” who “overstayed his welcome at Mar a Lago in an effort to become a Trump ally.”
The problem in Musk's free speech paradise
Over the past few days, the debate has shifted to a new question: Is Musk Banning your critics from X's payment verification system, contradicting its frequent claims to free X from the “censorship” of moderation. Loomer et al. has reported losing its verified status on the platform and being locked out of monetization options. (It's unclear whether Loomer will once again handcuffed myself at the company's headquarters in protest.) And Musk has Posted a “reminder” on That “if far more trusted, verified customer accounts (not bots) than the ones liking your posts mute/block your account, your reach will drop significantly.” It's a not-so-subtle reminder that X, despite Musk's promises of independence, is a private platform controlled by a fairly slim man.
None of the issues here are new, including anti-India sentiments – Usha Vance, the Indian American wife of Trump's running mate JD Vance, faced racist attacks On the campaign trail. However, they are newly relevant as Trump prepares to take office and decide which faction's concerns he will prioritize.
Figures like Musk and Loomer once found common cause in attacking non-conservative “Big Tech” figures, and you can find artifacts of that coalition in this debate. Indian-origin ex-Twitter executives Parag Agarwal and Vijaya Gadde, who were targeted by musk During his takeover, he was labeled an example of “bad Indians” by an Indian American conservative commentator. trump pardon recipients Dinesh D'Souza. (“I'm obviously one of the good guys,” D'Souza clarified.) Fundamentally, both parties are still hostile to immigration outside a select group of exceptions — Musk even Promoted the fake and anti-Semitic “Great Replacement” theory,
But in 2024, Big Tech CEOs have overwhelmingly indicated that they will Avoid angering Trumpwhich can not only crack down on immigration but Destroy parts of the tech industry With tariff. X, where the MAGA right thrives online, has lost non-conservative users to platforms like Threads and Bluesky. Trump's big-name supporters have successfully eliminated or silenced most of his opposition — now, they're settling scores with each other.