Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy fallout with Donald Trump's MAGA base over HB1 visas
CNN

“They Really Are Turning On Elon Musk.” MAGA Supporters fall out with Elon Musk, accusing him of censorship on X

Elon Musk surprisingly came out in support of hiring migrant workers in tech companies through a series of tweets. Trump’s MAGA supporters, largely anti-migration, spoke up against Musk online. Many of them now accuse Musk of censoring them on X.

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Musk clarified through a tweet that he’s in full support of importing the best engineering talent from around the world. He believes that it’s “essential for America to keep winning.” He likened hiring highly skilled migrant workers to drafting basketball players from other countries to win the NBA.

Despite Musk’s rationale, many MAGA supporters were greatly offended by Musk’s sentiment. A majority saw this move as a gateway for migrants to “steal” American jobs for cheaper foreign labor. One wrote, “Putting Americans first isn’t trolling, Elon.” It’s important to note that many of the other replies against Musk’s point reeked of racism and resentment against migrant workers.

MAGA and Musk are seemingly having a fallout on X, but Musk is its owner. Conservative, a large right-leaning account on X, claimed that all of their influencers have lost verification status as well as their own page. They believe it’s because they disagreed with Musk over HB1 visas. Laura Loomer, who has been going back and forth with Musk about HB1 visas, also lost her blue check.

Conveniently, Musk has made algorithm changes during his spat with MAGA. On Twitter, he said, “If far more credible, verified subscriber accounts (not bots) mute/block your account compared to those who like your posts, your reach will decline significantly.” Musk’s critics immediately fired back, viewing this move as a way to silence their opinions over HB1 visas.

An unexpected fallout

While MAGA attacks Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy for defending skilled workers, others were amused by the online fallout. One wrote, “They really are turning on Elon Musk.” Others were even less surprised, considering that Musk chose to support Trump, who has been raving on about mass deportations while promoting misinformation about migrant groups.


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Vanessa Esguerra
Vanessa Esguerra (She/They) has been a Contributing Writer for The Mary Sue since 2023. After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Economy, she (happily) rejected law school in 2021 and has been a full-time content writer since. Vanessa is currently taking her Master's degree in Japanese Studies in hopes of deepening her understanding of the country's media culture in relation to pop culture, women, and queer people like herself. She speaks three languages but still manages to get lost in the subways of Tokyo with her clunky Japanese. Fueled by iced coffee brewed from local cafés in Metro Manila, she also regularly covers anime and video games while queuing for her next match in League of Legends.