What is 'America First': People or profits?

Editor's note: This op-ed is partially adapted from Rachel Campos-Duffy's monologue on "Jesse Watters Primetime" on December 30, 2024.

Ramaswamy and Musk are competitive men, and their desire for America to win in the global game against our adversaries appears sincere.  But the question is, what is your definition of winning? And at whose expense should the game be played? 

The H-1B policy was created to bring the "best and brightest" to America and address labor shortages in specialized fields. On paper, it sounds noble. In practice, however, it has been wildly abused and undercuts American workers in tech jobs no one can credibly argue Americans don't want to do. 

Ramaswamy argues that the problem isn't mass immigration, but American culture itself. We need these foreign workers, he says, because our culture has "venerated mediocrity" for decades. We celebrate the prom queen over the math champ. The jock over the valedictorian. 

It's a convenient theory, but one that misses the mark entirely. 

Dissing prom queens and promoting "America Last" visa policies won't restore our greatness. It's a distraction from the real issue: the dismantling of our national identity, the takeover of our schools by communist activists, and the devaluation of American labor. 

Sadly, we're replacing goodness with Godlessness. Some of MAGA's newest members are Silicon Valley atheists who envision a cold tech and corporate future for us-one that fails to appreciate the humanity and vulnerability of our own citizens. 

The answer to our woes isn't importing millions of people from around the world. The answer is rediscovering who we are. Ben Franklin, the Wright brothers, Sunday church, family dinners, rodeos, skyscrapers, rock and roll, Friday night lights, and homecoming queens. The answer is fixing what's been deliberately broken in our culture and institutions. 

America is not a sports team and winning in the stock market is not the definition of success for America. "America First" is not a slogan; it is a guiding principle. 

Evita Duffy-Alfonso is host of "Bongino Report Early Edition with Evita."