Musk and Ramaswamy ignite MAGA war over skilled immigration and American 'mediocrity'

Trump restricted access to foreign worker visas during his first administration and has critiqued the H-1B visas program, which allows U.S. companies to hire foreign workers in specialty occupations.  

"The number of people who are super-talented engineers AND super motivated in the USA is far too low," he added. 

Musk likened recruiting foreign workers to assembling a sports team. "You need to recruit top talent wherever they may be. That enables the whole TEAM to win."

Ramaswamy, whose parents immigrated to the U.S. from India, backed up Musk and took shots at American society. 

 "American culture has venerated mediocrity over excellence," he wrote on X. 

"A culture that celebrates the prom queen over the math olympiad [sic] champ, or the jock over the valedictorian, will not produce the best engineers."

"There is nothing wrong with American workers or American culture," Haley wrote in a post on the social platform X. "All you have to do is look at the border and see how many want what we have. We should be investing and prioritizing in Americans, not foreign workers."

Haley and Ramaswamy have a long history of butting heads, starting with their competition in the 2024 Republican primary.

Right-wing rabble-rouser Loomer said, "Our country was built by white Europeans, actually. Not third-world invaders from India. It's not racist against Indians to want the original MAGA policies I voted for. I voted for a reduction in H-1B visas. Not an extension."

The skirmish kicked up after Trump nominated venture capitalist Sriram Krishnan to serve as his AI policy adviser. That nomination triggered anti-Indian backlash, and critics highlighted his past support for lifting the cap on green cards.