MAGA Civil War: Racism vs. Capitalism
Trump voters are facing a dilemma: stay loyal to xenophobia-based deportation dreams or jump on board with Trump's new AI advisor.
MAGA voters are now facing a significant dilemma: stick to their racist beliefs or jump back on the Trump Train. On December 22nd, Donald Trump designated Indian-American venture capitalist Sriram (full name Sriramanarasimhan) Krishnan as Senior White House Policy Advisor on Artificial Intelligence. Although Krishnan seems to be far from the most likely Trump pick to stir up any controversy, let alone near-Civil War amongst Republicans, he has become the newest victim of the MAGA powerhouse. Sriram Krishnan is, as noted previously, an Indian-American; therefore, hostility from the MAGA faction of the Republican Party was inevitable. However, a more significant issue arose from Krishnan’s stance that the new administration should remove the cap on green cards, enabling American companies to hire more immigrants for skilled labor. Of course, this is (sort of) in direct contradiction to what the President-Elect campaigned on. The American people elected him—at least 49.9 percent of them—so he could crack down on immigration. He was supposed to “secure the borders” and engage in “mass deportations." So, what are we supposed to think when your top advisors say they will permit more immigrants (the ones who are taking our jobs) to come into the country to take more jobs? The confusion and outrage are understandable when we painfully put ourselves in the shoes of a MAGA voter, particularly one who does not consider themselves a “capitalist MAGA" voter. They supported the racist notion of “mass deportations” without any clear strategy for achieving that goal, and now it appears they may not get what they desire.
What we are witnessing is a collision between two powerful factions within the MAGA movement: “Capitalist MAGA” and “Racist MAGA.” Of course, this does not imply that the Capitalist faction is free of racism, nor that the Racist faction lacks capitalist tendencies. Instead, it is a distinction based on differing priorities. The ideal world for a Racist MAGA would be one in which the United States contains zero (0) immigrants. Any logical political scientist, economist, or ordinary citizen would reason this is impossible and undesirable. The issue is that members of this MAGA faction genuinely do not recognize the positive impact that immigrant labor has on the American economy, even with empirical evidence supporting that conclusion. They have been brainwashed by racist notions about the average immigrant that, indeed, stem from Trump’s own words. Therefore, before we analyze the MAGA Civil War unfolding, it’s crucial to take a step back and examine the origins of these ideologies.
Trump on Immigrants
In 2015, during his initial presidential campaign, Trump remarked at a rally: “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.” Trump throws in a quick “some, I assume, are good people,” as if 1 in 10 undocumented immigrants will never commit a crime once entering the country illegally. Unfortunately for him, he is quite mistaken, as he often is. Let’s examine that claim.
A study funded by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) and conducted by the Texas Department of Public Safety shows that the overall offending rates and rates of violent crime are lower among undocumented and documented immigrants compared to U.S.-born citizens. They’re much lower.
The study also examined homicide arrest rates, revealing that undocumented immigrants possessed the lowest homicide arrest rate each year from 2012 to 2018. Trump warned about the drugs that undocumented immigrants bring across the border, along with violent crime. However, the study found that “undocumented immigrants were less than half as likely to be arrested as native-born U.S. citizens.” It’s important to note that this study was conducted only in Texas, which has the second-largest immigrant population of any state in the country.
Trump, like many of his supporters, doesn’t view all immigrants equally. Let’s not forget in 2018 when Trump frustratedly asked why the U.S. doesn’t have more immigrants from Norway instead of “s**thole” countries like Haiti and El Salvador. “Why do we need more Haitians, take them out,” Trump said in a meeting, which earned the response “Because if you do, it will be obvious why” from someone else in the room. Trump did deny using the term “s**thole”; however, he stated that “the language used by [him] at the … meeting was tough, but [that] this was not the language used.”
As should be very clear, the harsh, inaccurate, and often racist rhetoric about immigrants that can frequently be heard from Trump loyalists does not stray far from the source.
So, what’s the deal with all the MAGA infighting?
It’s not about Krishnan; it’s more about the conversation his appointment brings to the table.
Following the announcement that Krishnan will be joining the Trump Administration, Laura Loomer, the far-right political activist who has repeatedly been banned from Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram for Islamophobic hate speech, took to X (formerly Twitter) to voice her concerns. She wrote: “Deeply disturbing to see the appointment of Sriram Krishnan [Krishnan’s X handle] as Senior Policy Advisor for AI at the Office of Science and Technology Policy. It’s alarming to see the number of career leftists who are now being appointed to serve in Trump’s admin when they share views that are in direct opposition to Trump’s America First agenda.” Now, it’s important to interject here to state that no substantial evidence suggests that Krishnan was ever a leftist. David Sacks, White House Artificial Intelligence and Crypto Czar nominee, said on X that “Sriram is definitely not a ‘career leftist’!” Loomer continued, “How will [we] control immigration in our country and promote America First innovation when Trump appointed this guy who wants to REMOVE all restrictions on green card caps in the United States so that foreign students (which makes up 78% of the employees in Silicon Valley) can come to the US and take jobs that should be given to American STEM students.” I thought Loomer’s claim that 78% of the employees in Silicon Valley are international students was interesting and not entirely believable. After conducting research, I found no credible evidence to support that number, nor did I encounter that number in any source whatsoever. I found one study from 2018 that suggested that 71% of tech employees in Silicon Valley were “foreign-born” but not much else. It’s essential to recognize that when MAGA Republicans voice their concerns about “foreign workers,” they’re talking about Black and Brown people, not White immigrants from Trump’s favorite country, Norway. This evidence is readily available from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Decades-old reports indicate that 63.5 to 68.5 percent of employees in the high-tech sector are white, 5.8 to 14 percent are Asian American, and only 7.4 to 14.4 percent are African American. This data was compiled in 2014 but still offers valuable insight today. While no definitive data supports or refutes Loomer’s claims, it is quite clear that she is significantly misled.
Following Loomer’s initial post, she has seemingly spent all her waking hours on X, responding to dissenting voices and spewing hate.
The post that can be credited with igniting the discussion belongs to DOGE appointee Vivek Ramaswamy.
Ramaswamy doesn’t launch into a racist or xenophobic tirade like his DOGE partner soon will, but he puts forth some interesting arguments. Firstly, that American culture venerates “mediocrity over excellence.” First, claiming that a culture that “celebrates the prom queen over the math olympiad champ” or “the jock over the valedictorian” will not produce world-class engineers. The idea behind the statement seems obvious, but it lacks substance. A hometown celebrating their homecoming queen more strongly than they celebrate their math olympiad champion is the reason that the more “intellectual students” are less likely to become great engineers is foolish. At the same time, I agree that valedictorians and STEM competition champions deserve praise, and yes, equal praise as the jock. However, the idea that this cultural difference is a major contributor to the “lack of academic success” in this country (if such a problem exists anyway) seems, in a way, naive. Vivek also says the country needs “[m]ore movies like Whiplash, fewer reruns of ‘Friends’” and more tutoring, fewer sleepovers, more science competitions, and fewer cartoons. These ideas to “save America’s culture problem” are weak. What if the problem wasn’t “Friends” or cartoons? What if we could address our “culture problem” where “U.S. engineers are mediocre” by making higher education affordable and accessible? What if we flooded our underserved communities with resources, STEM camps and programs, and made them affordable and free? Can you imagine the excitement those populations would feel in fields they might never have considered otherwise?
In my view, Ramaswamy's questions stem from a resentment towards a culture he fails to value. Even the suggestion that America might someday show fewer cartoons and celebrate prom queens less is naive. The problem with Vivek’s words is not that they’re wrong, although many are, but that they’re unserious and irrational.
Vivek Ramaswamy isn’t the main issue here, though. Nor, believe it or not, is Laura Loomer. Instead, predictably enough, it’s Elon Musk.
Elon Musk’s Hateful Tirade
Elon Musk has taken the MAGA Civil War to a new level. It’s only December 28th, 2024, and we’re already seeing incredibly hateful rhetoric from the Trump Administration. Musk replied affirmatively to a post on X referring to Americans as “ret***ed” multiple times.
But, of course, that’s not all. A post on X from an H-1B opponent in reply to Musk reads: “‘Stop trying to optimize something that shouldn’t exist.’ ‘Let’s optimize H1-B.’” The post mocks Musk for alleged hypocrisy. I must clarify that I mostly agree with Musk’s current position on H-1B. However, that’s not the issue here. The rhetoric is. Musk replied to this post, “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. Take a big step back and F**K YOURSELF in the face. I will go to war on this issue the likes of which you cannot possibly comprehend.” The strong, hateful language directed at Americans, along with the evident insult to the American people, is, admittedly, something I did not expect from Trump’s team.
The response to these posts from Musk did not sit well with the Racist MAGA faction we discussed earlier. Co-founder of YIMBYs for Harris, Armand Domalewski, posted to X: “vivek talked to white people the way white people talk to black people and they f**king DID NOT LIKE IT lmaooo”.
Where’s this all going to end up?
Realistically, nowhere. It seems there have been no dissenters within Trump’s team so far, and with Susie Wiles as Chief of Staff, they will make sure that no one steps out of line. But it could spell trouble for Republicans in 2026 and 2028 if voters feel like the promise (powerful promise) of mass deportation went unfulfilled.