Trump ally Steve Bannon blasts Elon Musk as 'really bad' in MAGA split | Political Affairs

A former Trump adviser tells an Italian newspaper that the Tesla CEO intends to implement 'techno-feudalism around the world'.

Former adviser to the President-elect of the United States Donald Trump Steve Bannon has promised that Elon Musk will “run out” of the White House, in the latest escalation of the chaos within the MAGA (Make America Great Again) populist movement.

In an interview with an Italian newspaper, Bannon said he has made it his mission to ensure that Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, does not have access to the Trump administration and is treated “like any other person”.

“He is a really bad person, he is a very bad person. I did my best to bring this guy down. Before, because he put money in, I was willing to put up with it – I'm not willing to put up with it anymore,” Bannon told the Corriere della Sera newspaper, excerpts of which were republished over the weekend by Bannon's media company, Breitbart News. .

Bannon also said Musk, an American citizen born in South Africa, should “return” to his birthplace after the billionaire publicly defended the use of the H-1B visa program to hire high-skilled foreign technology workers.

“Why do we have South African citizens, the most racist people in the world, white South Africans, making us comment on what is happening in the United States?”

Bannon's broadside comes amid disagreements among Trump supporters over the role of foreign workers in Silicon Valley.

The split came to a head last month after Trump's decision to appoint Indian American capitalist Sriram Krishnan as an adviser on artificial intelligence sparked a wave of backlash from MAGA supporters, who interpreted the appointment as an endorsement of H-1B visas. .

Musk, who held an H-1B visa before obtaining US citizenship, criticized the criticism of foreign workers in Silicon Valley, promising to “go to war on this issue” on a scale that “you will not understand”.

Although he took steps to limit the issuance of H-1B visas during his first term, Trump echoed Musk's comments, calling the visas a “big deal.”

In his interview with the newspaper, Bannon, who served as chief strategist in the White House during Trump's first term, accused Musk of “the maturity of a little boy” and trying to establish “techno-feudalism around the world”.

“We've seen Elon at the top, his meddlesome nature, his lack of understanding of the real issues, and, frankly, his self-support, whose only goal is to become a trillionaire. That is his goal,” he said.

“He will do anything to make sure his company is protected or has a better deal or makes more money. His accumulation of wealth, and then – through wealth – power: that's what he's focused on. Working Americans in this country will not tolerate it. “

Musk has become one of Trump's strongest and most powerful friends since he publicly endorsed the Republican shortly after he narrowly escaped an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13.

Trump has included the tech billionaire in meetings with lawmakers and foreign leaders, and tapped him to lead the so-called Department of Public Works and bio-tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.