The Tesla billionaire, chosen by Donald Trump to be co-head of his new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has infuriated anti-immigration elements of the Republican Party by defending the H-1B visa, which permits highly educated foreigners to work in the US for up to six years.

Less than a month before Donald Trump returns to office, two of his most ardent allies have plunged into a fierce online debate over immigration, specifically the government’s visa program that allows American companies to hire so-called “highly skilled” foreign workers.

The backlash escalated Thursday, when Vivek Ramaswamy, in a post on X, criticized an American culture that he said “venerated mediocrity over excellence.”