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The internal rift within the MAGA movement over the H-1B visa continues to play out on X Elon Musk on Friday attacked a critic of the show using a profane quote from Tom Cruise's character in the movie “Tropic Thunder.”
Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who were chosen by President Trump to lead his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), argued earlier this week that American culture does not place enough emphasis on education, which is why foreign workers are needed for tech companies like Moscow's SpaceX and Tesla.
Many tech companies have adopted the H-1B visa program, which allows U.S. companies to hire foreign workers in specialty occupations, but critics of the program say H-1B holders are often singled out over U.S. citizens. One reason is that foreign workers are tied to their employers through the H-1B visa—because the company must sponsor the visa—and therefore leaving a job can ultimately mean the loss of the foreign worker's visa and ability. to stay in the country legally.
Elon Musk fired up X with a profane quote from “Tropic Thunder.” (Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images/Getty Images)
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On Friday, Musk doubled down on his defense of the program, blasting a user on X who used a video of Musk discussing SpaceX's processes to go after the billionaire's stance on the visa program.
“The reason I'm in America along with so many critical people who have built SpaceX, Tesla and hundreds of other companies that have made America strong is H1B,” Musk wrote on X.
He then cited 2008 action comedy, which was a box office hit.
“Take a big step back and F— YOURSELF in the face,” Musk countered.
The line, while not literal, comes from a scene in the film where Tom Cruise's character Les Grossman, a balding, profane and unkind studio head, yells into the phone at a group of kidnappers in a memorable scene.
Grossman then threatens the kidnappers that he will go “scorched earth” and “massacre” them. The explosion leaves the kidnapper and Matthew McConaughey, who plays Rick “The Pecker” Peck, stunned into silence. The film also stars Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr., Jack Black and Nick Nolte.
Musk also refers to Grossman's combative attitude toward User X, ending his post late Friday by writing, “I'm going to war with this problem that you can't understand.”
Tom Cruise as Les Grossman in Tropic Thunder. (DreamWorks Pictures and Red Hour Productions/Fox News)
Musk then went on to interact with other commenters on the topic, saying he agreed with one poster who wrote that the visa program needed reform and that Musk was “protecting meritocracy and the American dream for tech innovators at all costs.”
Elsewhere, Musk agreed in a separate post that said Google, Intel and Tesla were all founded or built by immigrants and that H-1B visa workers are actually limited to 15% for large tech companies. The paper notes that a third of positions in the sector go unfilled each year and that foreign workers are needed in the short term to make up the shortfall.
On Christmas Day, Musk wrote that he and his companies would prefer to hire Americans — and that it's much easier than going through the “incredibly painful and slow work visa process.”
“BUT there is a dire shortage of extremely talented and motivated engineers in America. This is not a case of handing out opportunities out of some magic hat. You don't get it. This is blindingly obvious when looking at NBA teams because the physical differences are so clearly visible,” Musk wrote.
“However, the MENTAL differences between people are MUCH greater than the physical differences!!”
SpaceX launch. Musk says immigrants are needed for the tech sector. (SpaceX/FOXBusiness)
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He also wrote that employing immigrants is essential to the future ingenuity of Americans.
“The bottom line is: you want America to WIN or you want America to LOSE,” he wrote. “If you force the best talent in the world to play for the other side, America LOSES. End of story.”
This isn't the first time Musk has brought up Tropic Thunder online. In August he unleashed the same line on Thierry BretonFrench business manager and former European Commissioner for Internal Markets and Services, who threatened to censor X.
Fox News' Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.
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Musk fires up X with profane movie quote to defend H-1B visa
