Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, is digging in his heels in his
defense of H-1B visas, saying some Trump supporters are “contemptible fools” who “must be removed from the Republican Party, root and stem.”

His comment on X was a response to a post from Dilbert creator Scott
Adams, who criticized MAGA loyalists for hurting the GOP’s election odds
amid the visa debate.

Musk’s choice of words echoes comments made by Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton during a campaign fundraising event in September
2016.

“You could put half of Trump’s supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables,” Clinton said at the time. “The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic—you name it.”

Clinton’s “basket of deplorables” comment was repeatedly used against
her during the run-up to the 2016 presidential election. And in her 2017
book, What Happened, Clinton said this comment was a factor in her
losing the election to Trump.

For what it’s worth, this is not the first time Musk has used colorful language in this debate with Trump supporters over H-1B visas. In a
Friday post on X, Musk told those who don’t agree with him to “take a
big step back and F— YOURSELF in the face,” adding, “I will go to war on this issue the likes of which you cannot possibly comprehend.”

“Our American culture has venerated mediocrity over excellence for way
too long,” Ramaswamy said on X. “A culture that celebrates the prom
queen over the math olympiad champ, or the jock over the valedictorian,
will not produce the best engineers.”

Trump weighed in on the debate over the weekend, backing Musk and
Ramaswamy by saying, “I’ve always liked the visas.”

“I have always been in favor of the visas. That’s why we have them,” he told the New York Post. “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.”

To be clear, though, Trump railed against the H-1B visa program in 2016, calling it “very bad” and “unfair” for U.S. workers, even though his own
businesses—including his Mar-a-Lago resort—employed foreign workers
under H-2B visas. Meanwhile, Truth Social’s parent company, Trump Media
& Technology Group, uses the H-1B program.

Laura Loomer—who called out the similarities between Musk’s
“contemptible fools” comment and Clinton’s “basket of deplorables” moment—said “the Trump base is being replaced by Big Tech executives.”

“I feel so sad for MAGA,” she said.

https://fortune.com/2024/12/30/elon-musk-channels-hillary-clinton-calls-trump-supporters-contemptible-fools-h1b-visas/

This will end in tears.

--
“We need to acknowledge he let us down. He went down a path he shouldn’t have, and we shouldn’t have followed him. We shouldn’t have listened to him, and we can’t let that happen ever again”.
-- Nikki Haley

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