The long-running spat between former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy continues after the former ambassador attacked Ramaswamy's pro-visa stance.
The selection of Siriam Krishnan as Senior Policy Advisor for Artificial Intelligence in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy has sparked widespread debate over the H1-B visa program. The program has been denounced by conservatives as an “abuse” aimed at lowering the wages of white people. -Collar American. Vivek Ramaswamy stirred up debate by claiming that America has “valued mediocrity over excellence.”
Haley responded to Ramaswamy on Thursday, saying, “There's nothing wrong with American workers or American culture. All you have to do is look at the border and see how many people we have. It's just a matter of seeing what you want. We should invest and prioritize Americans, not foreign workers.”
She continued on Friday:
When I was governor of South Carolina, the unemployment rate went from 11% to 4%. how? It's not about hiring foreign workers. We hired foreign companies to invest in SC, but not their employees. We retrained South Carolinians for these new jobs in technical schools.
Companies have started apprenticeship programs for high school and college students. Do you know who paid for it? Companies, not governments. Today, South Carolinians make airplanes, cars, tires, and more, and they do it well.
What is lazy is that the tech industry automatically hires foreign workers based on their needs. If you need workers in the tech industry, invest in your education system. Invest in America's workforce. We must invest in Americans first before we look elsewhere. Never underestimate American talent or the American spirit.
Haley's rebuttal of Ramaswamy's claims about H1-B visas follows a series of heated arguments between Haley and Ramaswamy during the 2024 Republican presidential primary.
At the second Republican debate in September 2023, Haley said of Ramaswamy, “Every time I hear you, I feel like you're a little bit stupider.” The former South Carolina governor had accused Ramaswamy of promoting the use of TikTok.
“What they're doing is these 150 million people are on TikTok, which means they can get your contact information. They can get your financial information. They can receive your emails, they can receive your text messages, they can get all of this. “I'm aware of this,” Haley said of TikTok's data collection practices.
Sean Moran is a policy reporter at Breitbart News. Follow him on X @SeanMoran3.
