Americans have become mediocre and lazy from binging on culture like Friends, Vivek Ramaswamy said.

In an appeal to hire migrant workers that sparked a furious row in Maga circles, Donald Trump’s incoming government efficiency tsar attacked American culture for “venerating mediocrity over excellence”.

Mr Ramaswamy, who is set to lead a federal cost-cutting drive alongside Elon Musk when Mr Trump takes office, suggested on Thursday that top US tech firms preferred to hire foreigners because they had a better work ethic.

He said an America that “celebrates the prom queen over the math olympiad champ, or the jock over the valedictorian, will not produce the best engineers”.

Mr Ramaswamy, an entrepreneur-turned-politician urged for “more tutoring, fewer sleepovers. More weekend science competitions, fewer Saturday morning cartoons. More books, less TV. More creating, less “chillin’.” More extracurriculars, less “hanging out at the mall”.”