Vivek Ramaswamy Faces Online Backlash for Supporting Immigrant Workers on H-1B Visas Over Americans

Former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has been facing backlash on social media after he suggested Americans were not being hired because they were mediocre. “Our American culture has venerated mediocrity over excellence for way too long (at least since the 90s and likely longer),” he wrote on X. “That doesn’t start in college, it starts YOUNG.”

The Indian American entrepreneur got support from his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) co-chair Elon Musk, who, along with defending him, also voiced his support for H-1B visas over the training and hiring of American workers. “The number of people who are super talented engineers AND super motivated in the USA is far too low,” Musk wrote on X.  “If you want your TEAM to win the championship, you need to recruit top talent wherever they may be.” 

Both Ramaswamy and Musk’s posts were in support of an immigration  backlash triggered by Trump’s appointment of technology entrepreneur and investor Sriram Krishnan as his senior policy adviser on artificial intelligence. It began when far-right activist Laura Loomer criticized Trump’s choice earlier this week, pointing out Krishnan’s previous support for removing some caps on green cards and easing the ability of skilled foreign workers to come to the U.S. “How will be 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.”

Loomer’s post triggered a series of online hate, with far-right activist accusing Krishnan and other Indian Americans of “stealing jobs from Americans.” One user asked: “Did any of y’all vote for this Indian to run America?” Another said it is “disgusting how Trump and co want to flood America with Indians as long as they have a degree.

Despite the backlash, Krishnan got support from not just Ramaswamy and Musk, but also Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and David Sacks, a prominent Silicon Valley entrepreneur and an ally of Krishnan, among others. Khanna said that the “fools” criticizing Krishnan as Indian born, [should also] criticize Musk as South African born or Jensen as Taiwanese born. “It is GREAT that talent around the world wants to come here, not to China, & that Sriram can rise to the highest levels,” he wrote.” It’s called American exceptionalism.”

Most of the vitriol was targeted to Ramaswamy from both the left and right, with many calling him a con artist. “There is nothing wrong with American workers or American culture,” wrote Nikki Haley, responding to Ramaswamy’s post.“All you have to do is look at the border and see how many want what we have.”

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Some others who blasted Ramaswamy were conservative radio host John Cardillo who described Ramaswamy’s post as “one of the most offensive things I’ve read,” while The Blaze host Auron MacIntyre remarked, “Turns out the ‘waste’ that DOGE wanted to cut from America was Americans.” Newsweek opinion editor Batya Ungar-Sargon called Ramaswamy’s argument “totally backward and utterly appalling.”