My new hobby is watching loyal Donald Trump supporters being alienated by President-elect Donald Trump. It’s exhilarating.

The latest example came when the anti-immigrant MAGA base got into an online brawl with Big Tech Trump supporters like Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy over the issuance of H-1B visas. These visas allow highly skilled foreign workers to stay in the United States for up to six years with H-1B nonimmigrant status.

Big Tech companies are relying on these visas, while Big Racism people online are claiming that the visas are another example of foreign workers taking jobs away from the “forgotten” men and women of America that Trump promised to protect .

(Spoiler alert: Trump sided with Musk and the tech bros this weekend because they gave him a lot of money and money is all he really cares about. Sorry, xenophobes!)

Trump is selling his followers to support Elon Musk with H-1B visas

Here’s how the whole incredibly stupid thing unfolded.

About a week ago, Trump appointed venture capitalist Sriram Krishnan as an artificial intelligence advisor. Because Krishnan had previously expressed support for expanding the H-1B visa program, die-hard anti-immigration activists like Laura Loomer — one of Trump’s staunchest loyalists — and Steve Bannon became angry and outraged. That’s kind of her thing.

Bannon said the H-1B program is a threat to Western civilization, which makes sense when your soul is so full of hate that your brain is starved of oxygen.

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The madness and outrage quickly led to racist attacks on Krishnan’s Indian heritage, causing Musk and Ramaswamy to go completely nuts and vigorously defend the foreign worker program.

Vivek Ramaswamy tells MAGA that Americans are somehow stupid and lazy

Ramaswamy wrote on social media: “Our American culture has worshiped mediocrity over excellence for far too long (at least since the ’90s and probably longer)… Trump’s election hopefully marks the beginning of a new golden era in America, but only if our culture is complete.” wakes up. A culture that once again values ​​performance over normality; Excellence instead of mediocrity; nerdiness instead of conformity; hard work instead of laziness.”

Many MAGA people read this as Ramaswamy calling them stupid and lazy, probably because Ramaswamy called them stupid and lazy. The MAGA base quickly turned its ire on Ramaswamy, prompting Musk to call them “despicable fools.” He later clarified that “despicable fools” refers only to “those in the Republican Party who are hateful, unrepentant racists” and “will certainly bring the downfall of the Republican Party if they are not removed.”

I’m not entirely sure how that narrows it down, but whatever.

MAGA fans discover where they stand in Trump’s world

The bottom line is this: Members of a political movement driven almost entirely by hatred of immigrants have been told by Musk, an immigrant, and Ramaswamy, a birthright American, that they are racist, stupid and lazy and should support a program like this allows foreign workers to get U.S. jobs.

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It prompted prominent MAGA figures like former Rep. Matt Gaetz, who like all these other people is a disgraced dipstick, to post this about Musk and Co.: “We welcomed the tech bros as they came running toward us, to avoid third grade.” Teachers choosing their child’s gender – and the apparent Biden/Harris economic decline. We didn’t ask them to develop an immigration policy.”

Someone pass me the popcorn – it’s going to be great!

Musk calls for MAGA to be…well, it’s profane and not particularly nice

On Friday, Musk took to the social media platform he ruined and wrote of the anti-work visa crowd: “Take a big step back and go fuck yourself.” I will go to war on this issue , which you absolutely cannot imagine.” (I’m not sure how one of the most influential people in President-elect Trump’s orbit saying “F-FUCK YOURSELF in the face” can relate to the evangelical portion of the MAGA base is compatible, but I can only deal with a group of idiots burned at once.)

On Saturday, Trump finally addressed the visa issue in an interview with the New York Post, saying: “It’s a great program.”

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA!!!

That’s great.

Trump hated H-1B visas — until Musk told him to like them

For starters, Trump said in 2016 that the H-1B visa program should be ended and was “very bad for workers.” And now, miraculously, it’s great.

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Second, Trump constantly spouts xenophobic nonsense about how he fights for the little guy, how he loves his “real American” supporters, and how only he alone can save them from the scourge of creepy immigrants and elites.

But when a few elite billionaires go after his base, effectively calling them a bunch of untrained, racist idiots, while simultaneously championing a particular immigration program that they like because it helps them…well, guess whose Side Trump stands?

Musk spent about a quarter of a billion dollars to help Trump return to the White House. So Trump will do whatever Musk and his fellow tech billionaires ask him to do.

And the Laura Loomers and Steve Bannons and the MAGA loudmouths on the internet and the voters who let themselves be persuaded that Trump was there for them? Well, I hope you enjoy looking at the underside of the bus. That will be their primary view from now on.

Follow USA TODAY columnist Rex Huppke on Bluesky at @rexhuppke.bsky.social and on Facebook at facebook.com/RexIsAJerk

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump picks Musk on H-1B visas. MAGA still doesn’t get it | Opinion