Musk flames X with vulgar movie quote in defense of H-1B visa

The internal dispute within the MAGA movement over the H-1B visa continues to play out on X with Elon Musk He attacked a critic of the show on Friday using a profane quote from Tom Cruise’s character in the movie “Tropic Thunder.”

Musk And Vivek Ramaswamy, President-elect Trump’s appointees to lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) argued earlier this week that American culture has not prioritized education enough and therefore foreign workers are needed for technology companies like SpaceX and Tesla.

Many technology companies have adopted the H-1B visa program, which allows U.S. companies to hire foreign workers in specialized professions, but critics of the program say H-1B holders are often chosen over U.S. citizens for jobs. One reason for this is that foreign workers are tied to their employers via the H-1B visa — where the company has to sponsor the visa — so leaving a job could ultimately result in foreign workers losing their visa and their ability to legally remain in the country.

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On Friday, Musk doubled down on his defense of the program, criticizing a user on X who used a video of Musk discussing SpaceX operations to go after the billionaire’s stance on the visa program.

“The reason I’m in America with so many important people who built SpaceX, Tesla, and hundreds of other companies that made America strong is because of H1B,” Musk wrote on X.

Then move on to the 2008 quote Action and comedy movie, Which was a huge success at the box office.

“Take a big step back and hit yourself in the face,” Musk said angrily.

This line, although not verbatim, comes from a scene in the film in which Tom Cruise’s character, Les Grossman, a bald, foul-mouthed, bad-tempered studio executive, is on the phone with a group of kidnappers in a memorable scene.

Grossman then continues to threaten the kidnappers, saying he will go to “scorched earth” and “slaughter” them. The explosion silences the kidnappers and stuns Matthew McConaughey, who plays Rick “The Baker” Beck. The film stars Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr., Jack Black, and Nick Nolte.

Musk also brings up Grossman’s combative stance with User

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Musk then went on to engage with other commenters on the topic, saying he agreed with one poster who wrote that the visa program needs reform and that Musk is “protecting meritocracy and the American dream for tech innovators at all costs.”

Elsewhere, Musk approved a separate post in which he mentioned Google and Intel And Tesla They are all founded or built by immigrants and H-1B visa employees are actually capped at 15% for big tech companies. The publication noted that a third of jobs in the sector are not filled 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 was much easier than going through the “incredibly painful and slow work visa process.”

“However, there is a severe shortage of talented, highly motivated engineers in America. It’s not about giving someone opportunities. You don’t get that. This is quite evident when you look at NBA teams, as the physical differences from It’s very clear to see.”

“However, the mental differences between humans are much greater than the physical differences!!”

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He also wrote that the employment of immigrants is essential to future American ingenuity.

“It boils down to: Do ​​you want America to win or do you want America to lose,” he wrote. “If you force the best talent in the world to play for the other side, America will lose. End of story.”

This isn’t the first time Musk has invoked Tropic Thunder online. In August, it is He unleashed the same line on Thierry Bretona French business executive and former European Commissioner for Internal Markets and Services who threatened to censor X.

Fox News’ Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.