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MAGA backlash as Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy defend visa program for skilled workers: Live updates

MAGA supporters clash with top Trump lieutenants as they laud the benefits of H-1B visa program for American companies

Alex Woodward,Oliver O'Connell,Gustaf Kilander
Saturday 28 December 2024 12:05 GMT
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Congress Narrowly Averts Government Shutdown — And Rejects Trump’s Debt Ceiling Commands

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Supporters of President-elect Donald Trump are bashing two of his top lieutenants, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy after they both defended a visa program for skilled workers.

Ramaswamy, who will lead the outside commission known as the Department of Government Efficiency alongside Musk, blamed a number of 1990s sitcoms for emphasizing the wrong values.

“A culture that celebrates the prom queen over the math olympiad champ, or the jock over the valedictorian, will not produce the best engineers,” he wrote in a post on X.

“There is a permanent shortage of excellent engineering talent,” Musk wrote on Wednesday on X. “It is the fundamental limiting factor in Silicon Valley.”

The “number of people who are super talented engineers AND super motivated in the USA is far too low,” he later added. “Think of this like a pro sports team: if you want your TEAM to win the championship, you need to recruit top talent wherever they may be. That enables the whole TEAM to win.”

That triggered pushback on social media from pro-Trump users.

Donald Trump’s return to the White House has some critics worried. Others are ready for a fight

Some of Donald Trump’s most prominent critics are bracing for impact.

“By going after me they’re just going to give me a platform,” George Conway told The Independent.

More from The Independent’s White House correspondent Andrew Feinberg on the critics preparing for a fight:

Donald Trump critics ready for his White House return and possible retribution

While some critics brace for Donald Trump’s return to the White House, others are ready for a fight.

Alex Woodward27 December 2024 13:00

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