Release date
January 13, 2025
Trump ally Steve Bannon attacked Elon Musk in a new interview with an Italian newspaper, weeks after Bannon publicly mocked Musk for defending the skilled visa program, and the world's He said he would “do whatever it takes” to keep the wealthiest man out of the White House.
KEY FACTS Mr. Bannon said Mr. Musk “should go back to South Africa,” where he is from, adding, “Why do we have the most racist South Africans on the planet, white South Africans? . . . What in the United States? “Do you have any comment on what's going on?” according to a Washington Post translation of Musk's interview with Corriere della Sera.
Bannon, a controversial figure whose influence over Trump has waxed and waned over the years, has said he would “do whatever it takes” to keep Musk out of the White House, and has set out a strategy to limit his influence over Trump. Mr. Musk told the paper that he is actively working on this. “It's really about implementing technological feudalism on a global scale.”
Bannon criticized Musk after he supported H-1B visas for highly skilled foreign workers. This sparked a feud between Trump's far-right allies and tech leaders.
Main background
The controversy over the visa program erupted in December when President Trump hired venture capitalist Sriram Krishnan as a senior policy adviser on artificial intelligence. Mr. Krishnan has advocated for eliminating caps on green cards and skilled immigration programs. Bannon called the program an “economic and financial fraud,” and said on the War Room podcast that he and his MAGA allies would “lose[Musk's]face” if he continues to support the visa program. “It will be taken away,” he said. Bannon said at the time that he had “total respect” for Musk, but to back up his claim that Musk's company relied on H-1B visas, he added, “The data on every engineer hired on H-1B “to prove that Americans are unable to fulfill that role.'' Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy and venture capitalist David Sachs defended Krishnan and the H-1B program, with Musk attacking visa critics and saying, “We need to take a big step back and face them.'' “Blame yourself,” he said, and vowed to “go to the world.” There's a war on this issue. Trump has not always supported H-1Bs, but he sided with Musk, telling the New York Post that “many” workers on H-1B visas work on his property. He said it was a “great program”.
Contra
Bannon has expressed support for Musk's involvement in European politics, often supporting right-wing movements, and said Musk's money and influence could help spread the movement abroad. Ta. “I support his participation because the enemy of my enemy is my friend,” Bannon said in a recent interview with Bloomberg, adding, “Money and information are the two tactical cores of modern politics, and he can deploy both at an unprecedented scale.”
Why is Elon Musk so influential in Trump's trajectory?
Musk, who is worth more than $416 billion, has spent more than $200 million supporting Trump's 2024 presidential campaign and has become one of Trump's closest confidants. Trump has appointed Musk and Ramaswamy co-chairs of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency, and Musk is regularly photographed with Trump at Mar-a-Lago. Mr. Musk has become increasingly vocal in global politics in recent months, often supporting right-wing leaders in countries such as Britain, Germany, Italy, Canada and Argentina. His outspoken comments have raised concerns among European leaders that Musk could use the X platform to unfairly interfere in foreign politics.
what we don't know
How much influence does Bannon have in Trumpworld? Bannon led Trump's 2016 campaign and worked in Trump's White House early on, but left the administration after less than a year and Trump later said Bannon had “lost his mind.” said. He appears to have rebuilt his relationship with Trump during the 2020 cycle, receiving a pardon from Trump for defrauding donors to a border wall charity. Most recently, Mr. Bannon was jailed last year for contempt of Congress after failing to respond to a subpoena during the House investigation on January 6th.
This article originally appeared on forbes.com.
