Steve Bannon has resumed his attacks on Elon Musk as the world’s richest man tries to wriggle his way back into President Donald Trump’s inner circle.
Bannon, a White House strategist during Trump’s first term, said Saturday that the South African-born Musk needs to be deported.
“I want to toss out Elon, ‘Elmo,’ and send him back to South Africa,” Bannon said. He began using “Elmo” as a derogatory nickname for Musk after the Tesla billionaire and the president had a spectacular break-up in June.
Musk, 54, came up as Bannon spoke about H-1B visas. He and the former “First Buddy” clashed on the issue earlier this year, with Musk vehemently defending the visa—which he was once a recipient of—as being a vital part of the American workforce.
Bannon has argued that the H-1B visa programs need to be scrapped so Americans can fill all of the country’s high-paying jobs. He says the program is a “scam” that allows foreigners to enter the U.S. legally, including Musk. Trump has since put a price tag of $100,000 per person on companies to hire foreign employees as part of the visa program.
Beef over H-1B visas between Musk and Bannon goes as far back as Trump’s transition period, Bannon said. He claims that he, Musk, and Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy clashed on the issue in person at Mar-a-Lago.
“Now [Musk] got, you know, all puffed up, and this is the hill he was going to die on,” Bannon said. “We were all terrible. Screw you, dude. You’re a foreigner who is taking advantage of foreign labor at the detriment of American citizens.”
Bannon’s blistering attack on Musk came one day before the aspiring trillionaire traveled to Glendale, Arizona, to attend a memorial for right-wing commentator Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated on September 10. There, cameras captured Musk and Trump shaking hands and speaking to each other as they sat by each other in a suite.
Sunday marked the first time the two men were spotted together in public since Musk addressed reporters in the Oval Office on May 30—his last day leading the so-called “Department of Government Efficiency.”
Musk began criticizing Trump in the days following his departure, as it became clear that the president’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” which eventually passed the House and Senate, would add trillions to the national debt and nullify progress made by Musk and his Gen Z team of engineers at DOGE. Their disagreements on the budget quickly escalated to personal attacks, including Musk alleging in a since-deleted post that Trump was suppressing the so-called “Epstein Files” because he was named in them.
Trump and Musk appear to have made peace, however. Musk posted a photo of himself and the president in the box on Sunday night and wrote, “For Charlie.” The eventual rekindling of the men’s relationship was one of Kirk’s desires.
“I think that at some point they’re going to reconcile,” Kirk told Megyn Kelly in June. “I hope they reconcile. I think that they’re much stronger together. Elon’s already deleted those tweets.”
It appears Kirk was not alone in wanting the men to return to being friends. Katie Miller, a former DOGE staffer and wife of White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, added a love heart emoticon under her former boss’ post.
The post Bannon Renews Attacks as Musk Rekindles Trump Bromance: ‘Screw You, Dude’ appeared first on The Daily Beast.
