The fight over the soul of Donald Trump’s Republican Party is between a fresh-out-of-jail populist podcaster and the richest man in the world.
Steve Bannon, the architect of Trump’s first campaign who fell out of favor with the president during his first term, has been steadfast in his criticism of Elon Musk — the tech billionaire who has recently been glued to Trump’s side. Bannon sees himself as a true populist and a die-hard voice against immigration, often aligned with members like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and MAGA world figures.
Musk aggravated Bannon and others by advocating for high-skilled worker visas last month — but the feud goes deeper than that. Bannon has been pushing for Musk to be ousted from Trump’s inner circle, seeing his influence on the president as troubling. He told NOTUS this week he was grateful the billionaire contributed mightily to getting Trump elected, but he opined that Musk is “an agent of influence for the Chinese Communist Party.”