US: Divide in Trump's camp as Musk, Ramaswamy face backlash

Washington: A major divide has emerged within Donald Trump’s MAGA team in the United States, as Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy who advocated for the expansion of the visa program for ‘highly skilled workers’ faced heavy backlash from within President-elect’s base, CNN reported.

Musk and Ramaswamy — both foreign origin leaders heading Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) — have reignited the debate on H-1B visas, while reflecting a divide over immigration policy as Trump prepares to assume office.

In a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter), Musk emphasised the importance of attracting top engineering talent to maintain America’s technological edge. “The number of people who are super talented engineers AND super motivated in the USA is far too low.”

“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,” Musk wrote.

He further elaborated, “I am referring to bringing in via legal immigration the top ~0.1 per cent of engineering talent as being essential for America to keep winning.”

“Thinking of America as a pro sports team that has been winning for a long time and wants to keep winning is the right mental construct,” the Trump-aide added. Ramaswamy, a first-generation American and Trump’s appointee to lead the Department of Government Efficiency, echoed Musk’s sentiments. He argued that cultural stagnation and a preference for mediocrity have led to a reliance on foreign-born talent.

Citing examples from 1990s sitcoms, Ramaswamy remarked, “Our American culture has venerated mediocrity over excellence for way too long (at least since the 90s and likely longer). That doesn’t start in college, it starts YOUNG. A culture that celebrates the prom queen over the math olympiad champ, or the jock over the valedictorian, will not produce the best engineers.” (ANI)

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