Steve Bannon warns that Elon Musk is showing his “true colors” in the H-1B visa war

In a series of posts on alt-tech social platform Gettr, former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon warned that billionaire Elon Musk was showing his “true colors” with the ongoing debate over the H-1B visa program.

“True colors shine through,” Bannon captioned a post that included an Axios article about how a “MAGA civil war” has broken out “over race, immigration and billionaires against the working class.”

Newsweek has reached out to Musk and Bannon’s communications teams for comment.

Why it matters

Musk and Bannon are leading allies of President-elect Donald Trump, having been close to the Republican candidate on several issues during his first presidency and the transition to his next term. However, they appear to be divided over the ongoing debates over H-1B, a skilled visa class.

“The H1B visa program should be abolished – it serves to continually drive down wages and replace American tech workers – replacing foreign workers will be treated like contract servants…” Bannon posted Friday morning.

Discussions surrounding the H-1B visa program have intensified in recent days as some in Trump’s inner circle have advocated for lifting country-specific caps on green cards to address backlogs of applicants from countries like India.

The debate began on Sunday after Trump named venture capitalist Sriram Krishnan as his artificial intelligence (AI) policy adviser. Laura Loomer, a Trump loyalist and far-right activist with a history of racist comments, criticized the appointment as “deeply troubling.”

Facing backlash, she responded to a post that said the nation was built by “immigrants who drove innovation” by noting that the United States was “built by white Europeans” and “not by invaders from the United States.” Third World from India”.

Musk, the world’s richest man who has himself benefited from the H-1B program, wrote on Wednesday in a response to a post on his social media platform “There are engineers

Musk continued to defend his argument, accusing Loomer of “trolling for attention.”

What you should know

This isn’t the first time Bannon has attacked Musk. In an interview last week, the popular right-wing podcaster said He disagrees with Musk on “almost everything.”

Bannon had previously called Musk a “stone-cold liar” and said that “his paymasters” were from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), citing the billionaire’s extensive business ties to the East Asian country.

Bannon had also said that Tesla was Musk’s only thing “of real value,” adding that Musk was “using it for margin loans.” This criticism came in 2023, before Musk was publicly a leading Trump supporter.

However, Bannon has recently spoken rather positively about the SpaceX CEO. In an interview published by Semafor, Bannon was somewhat more positive about how Musk came to support Trump.

“With Elon — look, he wrote a check for a quarter of a billion dollars when we had no money, when Trump had no money. He and I disagree on almost everything, especially China. But he didn’t.” I did what most wealthy people do and was brought in by the advisory class to do TV ads and said what I’ve already said: This was a grassroots-plus election “On It will be a ground game in the end,” Bannon said.

Musk has become increasingly prominent in US politics, with Kai Trump, the president-elect’s granddaughter, even saying in a post-election family photo that he had been promoted to “uncle status.”

He reportedly had a phone call with Trump with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. He also spent Election Day at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in Florida and has reportedly been a near-constant presence at the resort since the Republican victory over Vice President Kamala Harris in November

Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy were recently at the U.S. Capitol to speak with lawmakers — mostly Republicans, according to the Associated Press. The two will lead Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) – although some Republican lawmakers are calling for Musk to become Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Musk also recently urged lawmakers to reject an initial bipartisan spending bill, saying any lawmaker who supported it should be voted out.

What people say

Steve Bannon posted on Gettr an article from Mediaite titled “Elon Musk defends X engineer who posted racist, anti-white rant: ‘He’s a troll, but went a little overboard'” with the headline: “From Musk’s team goes purely raw.” Hatred towards the Americans”

Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas, to X: “I have done countless interviews explaining that we need immigrants and that they contribute to our economy! Companies make us angry because they need workers. And what do you know?! MAGA was played and is mad at who?! The same two guys who just yelled at them were looking out for them last week when the government was about to shut down!”

Economic commentator Jason Harrison, on X: “People on tech Twitter are actually shocked that some of their mutuals aren’t ‘legal immigration only’ and are just plain racist LMAO.”

Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, to X: “The US Congress agreed this week to fund our government. Elon Musk, who has become $200 BILLION richer since Trump was elected, has objected. Are Republicans committed to the American people? Or President Musk?”

Fox & friends said co-host Lawrence Jones last week that he had spoken to Trump and said that Democratic congressmen’s continued taunts of “President Elon Musk” “do not bother the president.”

What happens next

It’s unclear how the disagreements between Musk and Bannon will play out in the incoming Trump administration.