Vivek Ramaswamy weighed in with a lengthy statement amid the heated debate over Sriram Krishnan’s controversial views on immigration and green card caps. On Thursday, the 39-year-old took to social media to explain why tech giants often hire immigrants and “first-generation engineers” instead of “Native Americans.”

Ramaswamy intervenes as Sriram faces backlash over controversial views on immigration

Last week, the President-elect named Krishnan as White House senior policy adviser on artificial intelligence. Ramaswamy, who will head the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) alongside Elon Musk, continues to raise concerns about why most tech workers are “foreign-born.” He claimed that this was not “due to an innate American IQ deficit (a lazy and false explanation).”

But because it “comes down to the C word: culture.” “Difficult questions require difficult answers and if we are truly serious about solving the problem, we must face the TRUTH,” he continued. Ramaswamy continued that American culture has “revered mediocrity over excellence for far too long.” He pointed out that American films and television shows celebrate the “prom queen instead of the math Olympian,” which “won’t produce the best engineers.”

The Ohio Republican added bluntly: “‘Normal’ isn’t enough in a highly competitive global market for tech talent.” And if we do, we’ll get kicked in the ass by China.” “Trump’s election hopefully marks the start of one new golden era in America, but only if our culture fully awakens. A culture that once again values ​​performance over normality; Excellence instead of mediocrity; nerdiness instead of conformity; “Hard work rather than laziness,” Ramaswamy added.

Here’s why Sriram Krishnan is facing backlash online:

Krishnan came under fire after Laura Loomer shared his tweet about eliminating country caps on green cards. “Anything that involves lifting country-specific caps on green cards or allowing the immigration of skilled workers would be huge,” the entrepreneur tweeted. The investigative journalist raised concerns about his views, claiming they contradicted Donald Trump’s “America First” policies.

In response to Loomer’s concerns, Trump’s AI and crypto czar David Sacks said: “Point of clarification: Sriram didn’t say he wanted to lift all green card caps. He said he wanted to lift country caps on green cards.” “In fact, he wants to make the program completely performance-based. Supporting a limited number of highly skilled immigrants is still a dominant view on the right. Sriram is definitely not a ‘career leftist’!”

Trump previously confirmed that Sacks and Krishnan would work as a team, which would “ensure continued American leadership in AI and help shape and coordinate AI policy across the government, including working with the President’s Council of Advisers.” for Science and Technology”.