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By Ewan Palmer
News Reporter
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Vivek Ramaswamy has posted on social media for the first time in nearly two weeks after his H-1B visa position caused MAGA backlash.
Writing on X, formerly Twitter, Ramaswamy said on Thursday: "Dawn of a new Golden Age. Starts on Monday." He was referring to the inauguration of Donald Trump in Washington D.C. on January 20.
Why It Matters
Ramaswamy and Elon Musk, the tech billionaire who owns X, are set to join Trump's new administration as co-heads of the newly formed the Department of Government Efficiency.
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The pair previously sparked anger among some Trump supporters for showing support for H-1B visas, which allow U.S. employers to temporarily employ foreign workers in specialty occupations.
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What To Know
Ramaswamy and Musk sparked anger online for days in late December after they both showed support for H-1B visas, which bring in skilled foreign workers to the U.S.
In a lengthy post on December 26, Ramaswamy wrote on X: "The reason top tech companies often hire foreign-born & first-generation engineers over 'native' Americans isn't because of an innate American IQ deficit (a lazy & wrong explanation). A key part of it comes down to the c-word: culture. Tough questions demand tough answers & if we're really serious about fixing the problem, we have to confront the TRUTH."
He added the following day: "I've long said the current H-1B system is badly broken & needs to be gutted. It shouldn't use a lottery, it should be based on pure MERIT. It shouldn't tether workers to just one corporation. Same principles I favor today."
Ramaswamy has been largely silent on social media since December 30.
Meanwhile, Musk, the world's richest person who himself used the H-1B visa scheme, defended it in a post on December 28.
"The reason I'm in America along with so many critical people who built SpaceX, Tesla and hundreds of other companies that made America strong is because of H1B," he wrote on X.
"Take a big step back and F*** YOURSELF in the face. I will go to war on this issue the likes of which you cannot possibly comprehend."
Trump, who was previously critical of H-1B visas, sided with Ramaswamy and Musk over the issue, telling the New York Post in late December that he "always liked" them.
He also denied that he had changed his mind on the visas, telling reporters at a press conference in December in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, that "we need smart people coming into our country."
What People Are Saying
Vivek Ramaswamy posted on X on Thursday: "Dawn of a new Golden Age. Starts on Monday."
He added in a December 26 post: "Our American culture has venerated mediocrity over excellence for way too long (at least since the 90s and likely longer). That doesn't start in college, it starts YOUNG. A culture that celebrates the prom queen over the math olympiad champ, or the jock over the valedictorian, will not produce the best engineers."
President-elect Donald Trump told the New York Post on December 28: "I've always liked the visas, I have always been in favor of the visas. That's why we have them. I have many H-1B visas on my properties. I've been a believer in H-1B. I have used it many times. It's a great program."
Senator Bernie Sanders wrote in an opinion piece for Fox News on January 8: "In recent weeks, the H-1B program has sparked intense debate. Billionaires like Elon Musk claim it is crucial to our economy, arguing that the United States faces a shortage of highly skilled engineers and technology professionals. They are dead wrong. The primary purpose of H-1B and other guest worker programs is not to employ the 'best and the brightest,' but instead to replace American workers with lower-paid workers from abroad who often live as indentured servants. The cheaper it is to hire guest workers, the more money the multi-billionaire owners of large corporations make."
What Happens Next
Trump, Ramaswamy and Musk will begin work in the new administration following the President-elect's inauguration on January 20.
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