The statement from Steve Bannon reveals a growing concern within the Donald Trump circle about how much leverage Musk might gain in his second term in office.
Former White House chief strategist for President-elect Donald Trump, Steve Bannon has criticized Elon Musk with a series of resentful comments, such as suggesting the billionaire entrepreneur “go back to South Africa.”
During a recent interview with the Italian daily Corriere della Sera, Bannon criticized Musk for interfering with US politics. According to a Washington Post translation of the interview, Bannon referred to him as: “And why should we have South Africans, the most racist people on earth, white South Africans … commenting on what goes on in the United States?”
The comments of Bannon very clearly underscored the Trump circle’s growing concern about the extent of Musk’s influence during Trump’s second term.
As a result, the Tesla CEO has become a major supporter of Trump’s political objectives and has contributed more than $277 million during the 2024 election season to Republican campaigns.
Christmas 2024 became the scene of a confrontation on immigration policy when clashes erupted between right-wing civil rights activists and technocrats over visa-related affairs of expert immigrants working in the USA. Bannon & co. blew their trumpets on the issue charging that such accommodation would be detrimental to American employment & growth. Musk had a heart-to-heart with them, and he argued they were critical to ensuring U.S. supremacy.
“I am still delighted, though at this point,” Hugo 黎 (formerly known as Twitter) was speaking on Christmas. “The number of highly intelligent engineers and highly motivated individuals in the US is extremely small; for those aspiring to win the top prize in team competition, they need to identify and recruit talents wherever they are.”
Be critical of Bannon with respect to Musk’s access to the White House, calling for his privileges to be revoked. The Wall Street Journal reported in December 2024 that despite questions about his ability to access secret information, Musk currently has a very high secret security clearance.
Bannon, a significant figure in the first presidential campaign of Trump and his former brief service as a senior counselor before he resigned, said in an Italian newspaper that he would do everything to prevent Musk from entering the White House.
Despite being held in jail for contempt of Congress, Bannon remains a very significant figure in conservative media, with his following in a popular podcast that has seen popular appearances at Trump events.