MAGA podcaster and former presidential adviser Steve Bannon has declared struggle on his former boss’ latest influencer, staging a battle on ideological and seemingly private grounds with the world’s richest man.
In a current interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, Bannon referred to as Elon Musk — who spent practically $250 million on Donald Trump’s 2024 marketing campaign and emerged as a high adviser to the president-elect — “a really evil man, a nasty man” and vowed “to take this man down.”
“Earlier than, as a result of he put cash in, I used to be ready to tolerate it; I’m not ready to tolerate it anymore,” mentioned Bannon, previously a chief strategist and senior counselor to Trump, who would later dismiss him as “Sloppy Steve.” “I’ll have Elon Musk run out of right here by Inauguration Day.”
That would appear a heavy raise, as Musk has virtually shadowed Trump because the waning weeks of final November’s election. However current reviews have indicated Trump is more and more irritated by his fixed presence, maybe explaining why Bannon, an OG within the MAGA motion, feels assured he can flip the bottom in opposition to the Tesla founder and his cronies.
“Peter Thiel, David Sacks, Elon Musk, are all white South Africans,” mentioned Bannon, referring to 2 different tech billionaires recognized to advise the president. “He ought to return to South Africa. Why do now we have South Africans, essentially the most racist folks on earth, white South Africans, now we have them making any feedback in any respect on what goes on in america?”
Bannon’s cost of racism shouldn’t be with out benefit. In simply the final month, it was revealed Musk subscribes to a pro-Apartheid account on X, the social media platform which he has reworked into a number one purveyor of far-right propaganda. It was there he introduced his assist for Germany’s Nazi-apologist AfD political celebration — the nation’s “final hope,” he posted and in contrast DEI (variety, fairness and inclusion) measures to Jim Crow legal guidelines.
However in the case of race-baiting, Bannon has dibs. He helped co-opt white nationalism, turning it from a tick to a function of Trump’s GOP. The previous Hollywood producer and Breitbart editor additionally expressed sympathy for, if not solidarity with, the white supremacists who marched in Charlottesville and, in 2018, instructed a crowd of far-right French politicians, “Allow them to name you racist. Allow them to name you xenophobes. Allow them to name you nativists.”
“Put on it as a badge of honor,” he thundered. “As a result of each day, we get stronger they usually get weaker.”
Bannon’s rivalry with Musk goes again to the tech billionaire’s assist of H-1B visas that permit corporations to sponsor expert professionals from different nations to work in america. Critics like Bannon say this system brings in cheaper labor on the expense of American staff.
“This factor of the H-1B visas, it’s about your complete immigration system is gamed by the tech overlords, they use it to their benefit, the individuals are livid,” Bannon instructed the Italian paper in an interview flagged on Saturday by Breitbart.
Musk, he continued, was pushed solely by his goal “to turn out to be a trillionaire.”
“He’ll do something to ensure that any considered one of his corporations is protected or has a greater deal or he makes extra money,” Bannon mentioned. “His aggregation of wealth, after which — via wealth — energy: that’s what he’s targeted on.”
He went on to allege the Chinese language communists personal Musk “lock inventory and barrel … and he acts prefer it.” Bannon has beforehand emphasised the tech govt’s connections to China, the place Tesla, the electrical automotive firm based by Musk, has a big manufacturing unit.
Musk is a “complete and full phony,” he added, reminding the MAGA nation of the Starlink CEO’s reply to a tweet suggesting People are “retarded.”
“That just about sums it up,” Musk wrote final month in a since-deleted put up.
“He went out of his option to mock our motion as racist and retards, and he misplaced,” Bannon mentioned. “We blew him out of the water. He gained’t struggle. He’s received the maturity of slightly boy.”
Musk has but to answer Bannon’s interview.
previous boss’ consideration
