Musk inflames X with profane movie quote in defense of H-1B visa

The internal rift inside the MAGA movement over the H-1B visa continues to play out on X with Elon Musk attacking a critic of the program on Friday using a profane quote from Tom Cruise’s character in the movie “Tropic Thunder.”

Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who have been tapped by President-elect Trump to lead his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), argued earlier this week that American culture has not prioritized education enough and therefore foreign workers are needed for tech companies like Musk’s SpaceX and Tesla. 

Many tech companies have embraced the H-1B visa program, which allows U.S. companies to hire foreign workers in specialty occupations, but critics of the program say H-1B holders are often chosen over U.S. citizens for jobs. One of the reasons for this is that foreign workers are tied to their respective employers via the H-1B visa – as a company is required to sponsor the visa — and therefore quitting the job could ultimately see foreign workers losing their visa and their ability to legally remain in the country.

Elon Musk inflamed X with a profane quote from “Tropic Thunder.” (Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images / Getty Images)

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On Friday, Musk doubled down on his defense of the program, blasting a user on X who used a video of Musk discussing SpaceX processes to go after the billionaire’s stance on the visa program.  

“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,” Musk wrote on X.

He then went on to quote the 2008 action-comedy movie, which was a box office hit. 

“Take a big step back and F— YOURSELF in the face,” Musk railed. 

The line, although not verbatim, comes from a scene from the movie where Tom Cruise’s character Les Grossman, a balding, profane-laden and ill-tempered studio executive, roars down the phone at a group of kidnappers in a memorable scene.

Grossman then goes on to threaten the kidnappers, saying that he will go “scorched earth” and “massacre” them. The outburst leaves the kidnappers and Matthew McConaughey, who plays Rick “The Pecker” Peck, stunned into silence. The movie also stars Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr., Jack Black and Nick Nolte.

Musk also invokes Grossman’s combative stance with the X user, finishing off his late Friday post by writing: “I will go to war on this issue the likes of which you cannot possibly comprehend.”

Tom Cruise as Les Grossman in “Tropic Thunder.” (DreamWorks Pictures and Red Hour Productions / Fox News)

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Musk then went on to interact with other commentators on the topic, saying he agreed with one poster who wrote that the visa program needs reform and that Musk “protects meritocracy and the American Dream for tech innovators at all costs.”

Elsewhere, Musk agreed to a separate post that stated that Google, Intel and Tesla were all founded or built by immigrants and that H-1B visa employees are effectively capped at 15% for big tech companies. The post noted that a third of positions in the sector go unfulfilled each year and that foreign workers are needed in the short term to make up the shortfall.

On Christmas Day, Musk wrote that he and his companies would prefer to hire Americans – and that it is much easier than going through the “incredibly painful and slow work visa process.”

“HOWEVER, there is a dire shortage of extremely talented and motivated engineers in America. This is not about handing out opportunities from some magical hat. You don’t get it. This is blindingly obvious when looking at NBA teams, as the physical differences are so obvious to see,” Musk wrote.  

“However, the MENTAL differences between humans are FAR bigger than the physical differences!!”

SpaceX launch. Musk says that immigrants are needed for the tech sector. (SpaceX / FOXBusiness)

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He also wrote that employing immigrants is essential to future American ingenuity.

“It comes down to this: do you want America to WIN or do you want America to LOSE,” he wrote. “If you force the world’s best talent to play for the other side, America will LOSE. End of story.”

It’s not the first time Musk has invoked Tropic Thunder online. In August, he unleashed the same line on Thierry Breton, a French business executive and former European Commissioner for Internal Markets and Services who threatened to censor X.

Fox News’ Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.