Ahead of his inauguration, Donald Trump is receiving major backlash from MAGA voters after publicly siding with Elon Musk in support of H-1B — a program that grants visas to skilled foreign workers in high-tech industries — after years of campaigning on anti-immigration policies.
Brandon Bell / Getty Images
The H-1B visa topic has caused a massive debate within the Republican Party in recent weeks. Elon Musk, a beneficiary of H-1B, recently wrote on X: “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.”
@elonmusk
Agreeing, Elon’s incoming Department of Government Efficiency co-lead Vivek Ramaswamy wrote: “American culture has venerated mediocracy over excellence,” which he says causes US companies to hire foreign-born workers over Americans.
The reason top tech companies often hire foreign-born & first-generation engineers over “native” Americans isn’t because of an innate American IQ deficit (a lazy & wrong explanation). A key part of it comes down to the c-word: culture. Tough questions demand tough answers & if…
— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) December 26, 2024
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When asked about the H-1B visa himself, Trump told a reporter: “I’ve always felt we need to have the most competent people in our country. We need competent people. We need smart people coming into our country; we need a lot of people coming in.”
Trump also told the New York Post: “I’ve always liked the visas, I have always been in favor of the visas. That’s why we have them…I have many H-1B visas on my properties. I’ve been a believer in H-1B. I have used it many times. It’s a great program.”
C-SPAN / Via x.com
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Many Trump supporters are not happy with the president-elect’s support of H-1B and feel betrayed by his recent pro-immigration stance. Here’s what MAGA voters are saying:
1.“I was, but his recent statements on H-1B ruined it for me. He completely flipped on the issue, and to me it looks like he’s caving to the pressure from big tech and Elon Musk. We did not vote for him to increase ‘legal’ immigration. We don’t need ‘many more people coming in,’ like he said recently. It’s a slap in the face to his voters to be honest. It’s obvious this isn’t even a country anymore. It’s just an economic zone to be exploited.”
2.“Did we get fucking swindled?”
3.“I didn’t vote for globalization and importing people from countries that hate us. We voted for America First!”
4.“Just want to report that a lot of Trump supporters feel backstabbed and betrayed by Trump following his Elon worshipping and the H1B fiasco. Been out of decent work for a long, long time now and am fed up. Trump also just gave Democrats a mid term victory in 2026.”
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5.“I am very bitter over Ramaswamy’s remarks! I’m also very bitter over Musk’s support of this and of Trump’s support! Is this what Musk wanted all along? Is this why he worked so hard to get Trump elected? They should be ashamed at what they are saying about Americans! What a stab in the back!”
6.“This man could have been the emperor in 2020. Half the country was literally willing to die for him. People did die for him. He could have crossed the rubicon that day in January. And he just walked away. And has now completely trashed his own political legacy.”
7.“This is an end game choice by Trump for many of us. He either stands with the MAGA base or he stands against them. His choice.”
8.“Donald Trump is now reposting Elon Musk’s pro-immigration sentiments. So, we’re talking about more immigrants before mass deportations even start? This is NOT what we voted for.”
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9.“Betrayal at its finest…we were basically used to keep him out of prison.”
10.“Trump needs to tread very carefully here. I walked away from the Republican Party of Bush/Cheney once and came back for Trump…if he tries to take the party back down the oligarchic, pro-corpo neocon path again then I’ll walk away again in a heartbeat. Importing cheap labor to take jobs away from Americans is the opposite of ‘America First’…fuck Elon and Vivek.”
11.“Turns out America first didn’t mean Americans first.”
12.“I officially regret my vote for Trump.”
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13.“Wtf is going on here? This is NOT what we voted for.”
And finally…
14.“The American people don’t want to trade illegal invasion for ‘legal’ invasion. Stop H1B like you promised, don’t make the American people compete with the world for their jobs.”
Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
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