Elon giveth and Elon taketh away. Hello Americans, I’m Todd Starnes. And we begin with a mega-MAGA squabble on social media over comments made by Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk about American workers and foreign H-1B visa holders.
Both men – defending the tech industry’s reliance on foreign-born engineers – saying there’s a lack of qualified engineers in the United States.
Musk writing on X the number of people who are super talented engineers and super motivated in the USA is far too low. When critics pushed back – Musk said there was a “dire” shortage of talented and motivated engineers in the USA.
Ramaswamy jumped in and argued that American culture is to blame. Writing on X:
“Our American culture has venerated mediocrity over excellence for way too long (at least since the 90s and likely longer). A culture that celebrates the prom queen over the math Olympiad champ, or the jock over the valedictorian, will not produce the best engineers.”
But what really set folks off was when Elon endorsed a post on X that suggested Americans were too retarded to be hired for skilled jobs. Not exactly the best way to win hearts and minds.
Conservatives maintain that many American-born workers are being intentionally removed from tech jobs for cheaper foreign-born labor. And there’s plenty of evidence to back up that argument.
Regardless, late last night there was a purging of social media accounts on X. A number of high-profile conservatives had their verification badges stripped away. Others were demonetized.
Among those targeted Trump ally Laura Loomer, Gavin Wax, the president of the New York Young Republican Club, the pro-Trump ConservativePAC and Owen Shroyer, a host at InfoWars.
Loomer writing this on X before she was completely deplatformed:
“I have always been America First and a die-hard supporter of President Trump and I believe that promises made should be promises kept. Donald Trump promised to remove the H1B visa program and I support his policy. Now, as one of Trump’s biggest supporters, I’m having my free speech silenced by a tech billionaire for simply questioning the tech oligarchy. Elon has decided to retaliate by removing my blue check and demonetizing me. I guess he doesn’t really believe in Free speech after all.”
ConservativePAC also posted a message on X:
“All of our influencers have now lost verification status, as well as our own page. Our brand did nothing. “We spoke out against HB1 visas and it appears that @elonmusk intentionally shut us down? Is this the new status quo from America’s ‘most free’ social media platform?”
So, did Elon really punish America First Conservatives? Or was it a rogue employee? Or was it some sort of technical glitch that only impacted users critical of Musk?
As of now, Elon has not addressed the controversy. But the reality is that he owns X. He pays the light bill. And at the end of the day – it’s Elon Musk who gets to decide who has free speech on his platform and who does not.
The purpose of the H-1B visa program was to allow foreigners into the country for specialty occupations. However, loopholes have been exploited and now many American companies are outsourcing U.S. jobs to low-cost foreign workers. A policy meant to bring in the best scientists is now bringing in dishwashers and landscapers.
Monica Crowley said it best:
Is the American dream still available to the working class? That’s what this debate is really all about. It’s about strong opportunities, robust wages and upward mobility for American workers. This is the soul of MAGA – and no one – no matter their power or resources is going to be allowed to hijack it.
There’s actually a lot of truth to the arguments posed by both America First Conservatives and the pro-foreign worker crowd.
Part of American greatness came from our work ethic. While the rest of the world enjoyed three-hour lunches and afternoon naps – American workers built the greatest country in the world. That work ethic was something that parents instilled in their kids – doing chores – getting parttime jobs like mowing lawns and when the kids turned into teenagers they went to work at a fas- food joint. That work ethic produced generations of inventors and scientists and giants of business and commerce.
But over the past two decades we have seen a softening of the work ethic in this country – and it was made all the more prominent during the China Virus pandemic – when so many of our fellow countrymen were content with sitting in their La-Z-Boy and getting a check from the government.
The competitive spirit was weakened by participation trophies. Schools eliminated honors programs. Instead of inspiring kids to greatness – many government-funded schools now teach to the lowest common denominator. That sort of philosophy has generated a moral and cultural rot. That must be remedied – in our homes and taxpayer-funded schools.
But that’s really not the main problem. The main problem is the H-1B visa program is being used to punish well-qualified and highly-skilled American workers.
A recent survey found that one in six hiring managers have been told to stop hiring white men. Oracle offered internships and scholarships for everyone but White people and Asians. Apple banned applicants from an entrepreneur camp based on race. Microsoft bragged that it pays white workers less than non-white workers. IBM hosts internships that bar whites, Asians and men.
So, here’s the bottom line – America First means putting Americans first – not Mexico or Ukraine or India. Our first and only priority should be what is best for law-abiding American-born citizens. That’s why President Trump is heading back to the Oval Office. If America First does not really mean America First, there will be Democrat majorities in Congress after the midterms.
All that to say Elon and Vivek already have a job – a big job. They co-chair President-elect Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency. We already have a guy handling the border stuff – his name is Tom Homan – the border czar. Maybe Elon and Vivek should just stay in their lane.
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