Elon Musk agrees with tweet that Americans aren’t smart enough for tech jobs

Here’s a heartwarming story that should bring you joy this holiday season: The worst people you know are fighting. The MAGA vs. Tech Right feud which began in the run-up to Christmas, fueled by disagreements over allowing skilled immigrant workers to come to the States, was escalated by Elon Musk on Thursday. Trump’s “first friend” has declared far-right characters, including former Trump orbiter Laura Loomer, trolls and allegedly removed their Twitter verification status.

Musk spent most of yesterday extending support for H-1B visa programs that allow US companies to hire non-citizens for specialty occupations and have become a favorite tool in the tech industry to attract global talent. He also did it in the most 4chan-ish way possible, answering in agreement to a post by Autism Capital which claims the tech industry isn’t hiring Americans because “you are retarded.“

That put him in the sights of the nationalist right, which backed Trump largely because of his promise to curb immigration. Figures like Loomerhost of InfoWars Owen Shroyerand others criticized Musk and other tech-right figures like Vivek Ramaswamy for their narrow pro-immigration stance. While Musk retreated from the conversation, relegating it to mostly trolling, his biggest critics also removed their blue ticks from their profiles.

Loomer, Shroyera Newsmax contributor Gavin Waxand a political action committee Conservative OG all lost their vetting as a result of the H-1B visa battle after explicitly opposing Musk and friends. De-verification will not only cost them the bookmark, but also the payouts from their attention-seeking posts and any revenue they’ve generated premium subscribers who supported them.

BREAKING:

🚨🚨🚨@elonmusk removed my blue X because I dared to question his support for H1B visas, replacing American tech workers with Indian immigrants, and questioned his relationship with China.

Looks like Elon Musk is going to shut me up… pic.twitter.com/6hvTGCEZHw

— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) December 27, 2024

These accounts may have lost their verified status due to their association with ConservativeOG. One way to get verified on Twitter is by associating with a verified organization, which ConservativeOG previously was, as seen by gold bookmark that was once displayed on his profile. At some point, ConservativeOG was suspended, along with everyone associated with it. Loomer and ConservativeOG have ties, as seen on an archived version of Loomer’s account which displays the ConservativeOG logo next to her badge of approval. It’s unclear whether Loomer’s actions cost the entire organization vetting status.

Loomer is currently sitting in Twitter Jail, suspended for 12 hours due to fasting in which she falsely accused Sriram Krishnan, Trump’s future senior policy adviser on artificial intelligence, of donating to Kamala Harris’ presidential bid.

It’s worth noting that the purge appears to reach beyond those directly involved in the H-1B visa debate. The RawAlerts account, which posts almost exclusively clickbait and drama cultivation content, does, too lost your verificationand a number on another users expressed concern that their verification status was being revised without an explanation as to why.

In the middle of the whole immigration mess, Musk announced a Twitter algorithm setting that would lower the rank of posts from users who are blocked or muted by “reliable, verified subscriber accounts— a move Loomer interpreted as attack on her for nothing ever happened that was not for her. But it’s possible that the verification badge review is related to the algorithm patch.

Regardless, it appears that Musk’s goodwill with MAGA loyalists is wearing thin. It’s clear that Musk and other techies who have decided to stick with Trump are trying to turn the page and put the H-1B debate behind them, potentially going so far as to try to bury the bills leading the opposition . But the far-right has only continued to work since the shady de-verification move and seems intent on continuing the fight. Hope they all lose.