Right-wing influencer Laura Loomer lashed out at billionaire Elon Musk, calling him a “welfare queen” for relying on government subsidies and special visas to hire immigrant tech workers, igniting further tensions within the upper ranks of the MAGA movement as Donald Trump prepares to take office this month. During a sit-down Monday with conservative political commentator Eric Bolling, Loomer accused Musk of using his wealth and control of X to manipulate conservatives and claimed Trump’s inner circle is too intimidated to confront the Tesla CEO. Laura Loomer, a right-wing pundit and supporter of former U.S. President Donald Trump, gathers outside the Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. United States Federal Courthouse where former President Donald Trump is scheduled to be arraigned later in the day on June 13, 2023, in Miami, Florida. (Credit: Getty Images) Loomer has emerged as one of the most vocal and high-profile MAGA loyalists sparring over the issue of using H-1B guest worker visas as Trump has promised to swiftly deport all undocumented immigrants on his first day in office. However, Musk has vowed to fight fiercely to protect H-1B immigrants who fill the top positions at his companies. Responding to his critics, Musk wrote on X, “F—k yourself in the face,” suggesting he would stop at nothing to ensure his position prevails. The worst person you know just made some great points pic.twitter.com/26uPBN0xzD— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 30, 2024 And while Trump has previously criticized H-1B visas, he is now backing Musk in his battle — creating an awkward situation that has MAGA in turmoil on the eve of Trump’s second term. Musk’s companies have raked in billions of dollars in U.S. taxpayer-funded subsidies and major tax cuts for Tesla and SpaceX. The Los Angeles Times reported in 2015 that Musk’s Tesla received about $4.9 billion in government subsidies, including grants, tax breaks, and credits. Additionally, USA Today estimated his companies have secured around $20 billion in federal contracts over the past 16 years. Although the visa issue was not widely discussed during the campaign, Musk now argues that foreign workers are crucial to the success of the American tech industry, while MAGA diehards are pushing for American jobs to stay with Americans — putting Trump in the eye of the storm with his constituents three weeks before he takes the oath. Loomer’s interview with Bolling, meanwhile, marked the second time the right-wing provocateur criticized the double standard on immigration and American jobs, contrasting Trump’s promise to his MAGA supporters with Musk’s push to protect H-1B visas for high-level foreign tech workers. Earlier, she appeared on Trump ally Steve Bannon’s right-wing “War Room” podcast, where she slammed Musk for accepting government subsidies while simultaneously claiming to be anti-immigration. “What is it going to mean for the future of our country, our national security and the incoming Trump administration if we have a bunch of technocrats, who are also essentially welfare queens because their companies are receiving government subsidies, and they want to take over our defense industry?” Loomer said. On X, Loomer also labeled Musk a “Stage 5 clinger” for his persistent attachment to Trump, describing him as constantly orbiting around the president-elect and “slithering” into Mar-a-Lago. “I don’t think it’s acceptable for billionaires to have this much power and this much access,” she stressed. Bannon was even more outspoken, labeling Musk and other tech leaders as “sociopathic” and insisting they owed the nation “reparations” for the jobs they had taken from hard-working Americans. “We haven’t fought these battles over years and years and years to allow American citizens of every race, ethnicity, religion, be gutted by the sociopathic overlords in Silicon Valley,” Bannon fumed. “Vivek Ramaswamy … Elon Musk … We want it gone … We want reparations for the tech workers that you stole their lives.” Bannon emphasized that the visa issue is “central to the way they gutted the middle class in this country.” Aligning with Bannon, Loomer criticized Musk, Ramaswamy, and others she referred to as “tech bros,” then condemned Musk for his expletive-laden remarks on the subject. Loomer also turned on other Trump supporters whom she accused of being “addicts” and “junkies” beholden to Musk. Loomer even took aim at Trump and his inner circle, hinting that campaign finance reforms might be necessary — a jab suggesting that Musk’s financial backing of Trump could explain their reluctance to join her and Steve Bannon in opposing the “technocratic elites.” Bolling questioned why no one from Trump’s circle has publicly addressed the issue of H-1B guest worker visas, noting their usual visibility on Fox and his own past communication with figures like Stephen Miller. Bolling then speculated whether their silence was intentional, possibly because they’ve been instructed to stay quiet and let the situation resolve itself, prompting Loomer to claim that Elon Musk was the one truly calling the shots. “This is the problem when you allow for a billionaire to make a $200 million donation. And so maybe we really do need to have campaign finance regulations in this country,” Loomer said. “I mean, essentially, what is happening — and I love President Trump, I’m not saying that President Trump is bought and paid for — but it sounds like people are scared of crossing the king, the king of the world, Elon Musk, the monarch. OK?” Last week, the tech billionaire endorsed a post on X, since deleted, that insulted American workers as “retarded,” a term widely regarded as an offensive slur. Ramaswamy, Musk’s partner in the upcoming Trump-appointed Department of Government Efficiency aimed at downsizing the federal workforce, also criticized Americans as less desirable employees compared to more skilled foreign hires in the U.S. tech industry. He attributed the decline in American talent to U.S. culture and the nation’s education system, despite plans by the incoming Trump administration to eliminate the Education Department. ‘Bought and Paid for’: Laura Loomer Brands Elon Musk ‘Welfare Queen’ Amid Explosive MAGA Clash Over H-1B Visas, Accuses Donald Trump of Being Scared to Cross the Tesla Billioniare