Elon Musk has been at the center of the H-1B immigration visa debate unfolding on X, the social media platform he owns, between the tech industry entrepreneurs and MAGA populists in President-elect Donald Trump’s political coalition.

Escalating his rhetoric, Musk promised to wage “war” against opponents of H-1B and tied the program to his success with companies such as Tesla and SpaceX.

“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 said on X Friday night.

“Take a big step back and F[**]K YOURSELF in the face. I will go to war on this issue the likes of which you cannot possibly comprehend,” he added.

Musk donated at least $120 million towards helping Trump’s presidential bid and endorsed him in July after he survived an assassination attempt in Butler, Pa. Musk also spoke at several Trump campaign rallies and openly advocated for him to over 200 million followers on X.

Since Trump’s resounding electoral victory, Musk has been a near-constant presence at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club and was given the task of leading the Department of Government Efficiency alongside businessman Vivek Ramaswamy.

The H-1B debate began when Trump selected venture capitalist Sriram Krishnan for an advisory role on artificial-intelligence policy. Krishnan is a partner at venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz and a friend of Musk’s who played an important role in helping Musk steer Twitter after the latter took over the company in 2022 and fired most of its staff.

Musk immediately ended Twitter’s censorship of conservatives and restored prominent accounts, including immigration skeptics and pro-Trump activists like provocateur Laura Loomer and political commentator Josiah Lippincott.

MAGA proponents of reducing illegal and legal immigration unleashed attacks on Krishnan because of his past support for expanding country caps for green cards. Some of those attacks descended into anti-Indian vitriol and others have branched out into broader critiques of the American immigration system.

The immigration debate reached a fever pitch when Ramaswamy criticized American culture for promoting mediocrity instead of focusing on academic excellence and success on the basis of merit.

“Trump’s election hopefully marks the beginning of a new golden era in America, but only if our culture fully wakes up. A culture that once again prioritizes achievement over normalcy; excellence over mediocrity; nerdiness over conformity; hard work over laziness,” Ramaswamy said on Thursday.

Ramaswamy’s post immediately drew controversy and dominated political discourse on X during a time when most Americans celebrated Christmas with loved ones. In response to the backlash, Musk doubled down on Friday and called for removing “contemptible fools” from the Republican Party who oppose his immigration agenda.

Musk later clarified that his statement was addressing the “hateful, unrepentant racists” he considers a threat to the GOP’s future. At the same time, X appears to have suspended and demonetized a number of far-right accounts that have participated in the immigration discourse, causing some MAGA advocates to accuse Musk of censorship.

The technologists believe that increased legal immigration will promote American innovation and economic growth by bringing in elite talent from all around the world. They also advocate for hiring based solely on meritocratic achievements rather than instituting demographic quotas.

MAGA skeptics argue that America does not need foreign talent to maintain the world’s largest economy and they think Americans deserve to be prioritized over foreign nationals in the hiring process. They have also pointed to apparent abuse of the H-1B visa system by companies filling entry-level roles with immigrants.

The president-elect has not commented on the immigration debate between allied factions of his movement. Trump has made curtailing illegal immigration central to his political career and promises to launch mass deportations when he returns to power next month.

On legal immigration, Trump’s position is much less well-defined. Earlier this year he floated handing out green cards to all foreign graduates of American colleges and universities. Trump has also expressed openness to working with Democrats on a deal to protect illegal immigrants brought to the U.S. as children, otherwise known as DREAMers.