Days after pandering to what tech mogul Elon Musk's deep pockets can do to the MAGA movement, Steve Bannon is furious at the world's richest man, calling for influence in the White House. I vowed to limit it.
Mr. Bannon, 71, who hosts the podcast “War Room” and has a penchant for all-out, deadly political wars, suggested Mr. Musk “should go back to South Africa” and banned him from getting an H1-B visa. He criticized his own position.
Bannon: “We're going to get Elon Musk out of here by Inauguration Day.'' said Excerpt from last week's Italian daily Corriere della Sera, translated by him. Former employer Breitbart. “He doesn't have a blue pass to the White House, he doesn't have full access to the White House, he's going to be just like everyone else.”
“He's a really evil guy, a really bad guy. It was my personal job to take this guy down,” he continued. “Before, I was just going to put up with it because he put the money in. I'm not ready to put up with it anymore.”
Last month, just before Christmas, a war broke out between tech fraternities and immigration hardliners within the MAGA movement over H1-B visas, which allow foreign workers to come to the United States to work in professional jobs.
Musk, 53, a U.S. citizen who immigrated from South Africa, has emerged as an ardent defender of H1-B visas. President-elect Donald Trump, 78, ultimately endorsed Musk's stance and the tech billionaire. However, Mr. Bannon did not let go of his H1-B visa application.
“The problem with H-1B visas is that the entire immigration system is being gamed by the tech overlords. They're using it for their own benefit, and the public is furious.” Bannon told the media.
Mr. Bannon also lashed out at other billionaire supporters of Mr. Trump.
“Peter Thiel, David Sachs and Elon Musk are all white South Africans,” he added. “He should go back to South Africa. Why are they letting white South Africans, the most racist people on the planet, even comment on what's going on in the United States?”
Billionaire entrepreneur Peter Thiel is German-American, but as a child he lived in South Africa and Namibia.
He worked with Musk at PayPal and was a major supporter of Vice President-elect J.D. Vance's 2022 bid for the Ohio Senate seat.
Since the coronavirus pandemic, Mr. Musk has become more conservative with his conservative views in the public eye. In the Republican primary, he supported candidates to replace Trump, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (Republican). But after the July 13 assassination attempt, Musk began to fully commit to the next president.
Since Trump's election victory, Musk has spent much of his time at Mar-a-Lago. President Trump selected him to lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which is not actually a government department.
Democrats have tried to play on the egos of Musk and Trump and pit them against each other. Democrats dubbed him “President Musk” when Musk stirred up public opposition to a government funding bill in Congress last month, but Trump has so far declined to entertain that invitation.
Mr. Bannon complained that Mr. Musk's “only purpose is to become a trillionaire.” Bannon has previously called for higher taxes on the wealthy and warned that the widening gap between the super-rich and the poor could lead to riots similar to the French Revolution in the United States.
“[Musk] “I would do anything to make sure one of my companies was protected, got a better deal, made more money,” Bannon said. “His collection of wealth, and power through wealth. That's what he's focused on.”
Bannon also took a jab. Musk seems to agree. A post on X suggested that Americans are too “retarded” for companies to do the work of hiring foreigners through the H1-B visa system. Musk later deleted the post.
“He went out of his way to ridicule our movement as racist and retarded and lost,” Bannon complained. “We blew him out of the water.”
Before Mr. Musk endorsed Mr. Trump, Mr. Bannon had slammed Tesla and SpaceX for not criticizing China. Mr. Musk is deeply involved in U.S. and European politics, but has largely avoided mentioning China, where he has factories and a large Tesla sales operation.
But just last week, Bannon claimed that despite their differences, Musk's participation in the MAGA movement could be an important boon for billionaires seeking to enter European politics. attention to their efforts.
Bannon: “I support his participation because the enemy of my enemy is my friend.'' told Bloomberg. “Musk just spent $250 million to elect Trump.”
“If we spend the same amount of money across Europe that we have spent supporting Mr. Trump, he will turn every country over to his populist policies. There are no centre-left governments in Europe that can withstand that onslaught. It doesn't exist.”
