Former CNN host Don Lemon called out President-elect Donald Trump's voters on TikTok for being "f**king idiots" for believing the president-elect would actually halt immigration after he seemingly did a 180 and asserted that "we need a lot of people coming in."
The controversy erupted after Trump appointed Indian-American technologist Sriram Krishnan as the senior policy advisor for artificial intelligence at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
Krishnan has advocated for measures such as creating a startup founder or entrepreneur visa category, allowing H-1B visa holders to establish companies or transition to entrepreneur visas, and fast-tracking green cards for individuals in technical fields.
Trump’s ally, billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy, endorsed Krishnan’s views; he will co-lead the nonexistent "Department of Government Efficiency" (DOGE) alongside fellow billionaire Elon Musk. Ramaswamy justified why major U.S. tech companies often turn to foreign talent, attributing it to what he called a cultural tendency in America to produce “mediocre workers.”
Ramaswamy’s remarks infuriated many in the MAGA base. The backlash intensified when Musk voiced his own support for the H-1B visa program. After prominent MAGA figures like Laura Loomer challenged Musk on X, he retaliated by removing their verification badges and demonetizing their accounts.
Although Trump has previously condemned the H-1B visa system as “unfair” to American workers and “very bad,” he quickly reversed his political stance, saying:
“I didn’t change my mind. I always felt we have to have the most competent people in our country … We need smart people coming into our country. We need a lot of people coming in.”
And Lemon could not help but laugh and laugh.
@donlemon New Year, NEW US 😎 #maga #h1bvisa
He said:
"The MAGA people have finally figured out they need immigrants in order for this economy to survive, for this country to survive. ... Now the tech bros are telling you we need immigrants. We need these H-1B visa folks in order to get our business done."
"All of a sudden they like immigrants and the racist faction of the MAGA movement lost their minds, not all Trump supporters but many of them were upset ... because they felt betrayed by it." ...
“Now you’re finding out, you dumb f**king idiots. Now you’re just figuring this s**t out. You’re so f**king stupid, and you deserve it, and you f**king deserve it because you’re so dumb.”
“Yes. I am gloating over your stupidity and how you were taken. I’m cracking. I’m cackling — I am. You've been taken."
"You have been co-opted, because you’re in a f**king cult and you don’t even realize it, because you have stupid MAGA brain and you don’t get it. How stupid and dumb are you?”Many agreed.
Later, Lemon, who did not apologize for his remarks, clarified that he was "not talking to all the Trump supporters," only "the MAGA brain people who will say and do anything to make excuses for any behavior that Donald Trump does, any bad behavior that the MAGA movement does."
The controversy over H-1B visas revealed a growing divide among Trump’s allies on immigration policy. Trump, who has promised to take aggressive action on immigration once in office—including implementing a large-scale deportation program targeting undocumented individuals, especially those with criminal records—has doubled down on these plans by appointing several key allies to influential roles in immigration policy.
Musk, for his part, went as far as to suggest that he would be willing to “go to war” over the issue. Musk is reportedly a former H-1B recipient.
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