Bannon Claims Victory in MAGA Civil War as He Knocks Musk’s Relevance
Outspoken Elon Musk hater, Steve Bannon, was happy to degrade the tech mogul’s status in President-elect Donald Trump’s inner circle Tuesday claiming that he doesn’t have as much power as presumed.
While speaking to Politico’s Dasha Burns at the outlet’s “Politico Playbook: The First 100 Days” event, Trump’s former chief strategist claimed that while Musk may have had some influence over Cabinet picks, he doesn’t “have the ability to actually make decisions and inform those decisions and drive those decisions.”
The War Room podcast host proceeded to list Scott Bessent winning over Howard Lutnick, Musk’s favorite, for Treasury secretary as an example of the Tesla CEO’s dwindling power and noted that he even softened his stance on H-1B visas after suffering the wrath of a MAGA crusade.
In December, Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency co-lead Vivek Ramaswamy lit the flames of a MAGA civil war when they voiced their support for H-1B visas, a system that allows skilled international workers to work in America., on X. A handful of MAGA loyalists, like Bannon, notably criticized the visa program in response claiming that it takes away job opportunities from Americans and that it’s essentially a scapegoat to pay less for labor.
After taking bullets left and right, Musk eventually softened his stance on the H-1B system and conceded that it was “broken.”
“We’re winning this round, and we’re winning this round pretty big,” Bannon told Politico while discussing the H-1B debacle. “I think we’ll get Elon there. As soon as I can turn Elon Musk from a techno-futilist to a populist nationalist, we’ll start making real progress.”
Although Bannon told Politico that Musk “deserves a place at the table” for his multimillion dollar backing of Trump’s campaign last year, the media exec has arguably been on a weeks-long tirade berating Musk at any opportunity, going so far as to say that he has the “maturity of a child.”
“He suffered a major defeat in America on H1B visas, he derided our movement as racist and retarded, and he lost,” Bannon told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera earlier this month. “He has the maturity of a child. He has tried to change the conversation, after losing credibility in the United States and the fact that, frankly, people around Trump are tired of him.”
“I will get Elon Musk kicked out by the time he’s inaugurated,” he continued. “He won’t have a blue pass with full access to the White House. He’ll be like everyone else.”