Cracks in the MAGA stronghold may be forming just days ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration on Monday, Jan. 20, as political strategist Steve Bannon recently lashed out at out at Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk.
Trump recently tapped Musk to lead the newly-formed Department of Government Efficiency alongside Vivek Ramaswamy.
Here’s what Bannon said about Musk.
What did Steve Bannon say about Elon Musk?
Steve Bannon blasted Elon Musk in an interview with Italian news outlet Corriere Della Sera.
Steve Bannon, a former political advisor to US President-elect Donald Trump, attends his court hearing at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City on November 12, 2024. Bannon is charged with wire fraud and money laundering for taking for personal use millions of dollars contributed by donors for the construction of a border wall with Mexico. He pleaded not guilty in 2022.
“I will have Elon Musk run out of here by Inauguration Day. He will not have a blue pass to the White house, he will not have full access to the White House, he will be like any other person,” Bannon told Corriere Della Sera. “He is a truly evil guy, a very bad guy.
“I made it my personal thing to take this guy down.”
Bannon lashed Musk, who also own social media platform X, for his stance on H-1B visas, and for Musk’s alleged involvement in European politics.
“It’s about the entire immigration system is gained by the tech overlords, they use it to their advantage, the people are furious,” Bannon told Corriere Della Sera. “76% of engineers working in Silicon Valley are non-Americans: this is the central part of getting our jobs and economy back, these are the best jobs out there.
“No Blacks or Hispanics have any of these jobs or any access to these jobs.”
Has Elon Musk responded to Steve Bannon?
So far, there is no indication that Elon Musk has responded directly to Steve Bannon’s latest barrage, but it doesn’t appear the two men will have a sit-down anytime soon.
“My history is I threw him out of the White House every day for 30 days in a row in 2017, because he was looking for subsidies paid for by American working-class people, people making $35,000 a year was supposed to pay, basically, taxes to support rewrite on Tesla,” Bannon said in his Corriere Della Sera interview. “So, I don’t need to talk to Elon Musk. I know what Elon Musk is up to.
“But I am very appreciative of the fact that he wrote a 250 million dollar check for President Trump and I hope he writes some checks in the future.”
Damon C. Williams is a Philadelphia-based journalist reporting on trending topics across the Mid-Atlantic Region.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Steve Bannon tears into Elon Musk. What he said ahead of inauguration