A discussion revolving around Vivek Ramaswamy’s recent comments that America’s culture problem has resulted in tech companies hiring more people from India and China created an on-air dust-up between a Washington Post columnist and a Republican who opposes the tech entrepreneur’s view.
The moment came Thursday on CNN’s “The Source” when Washington Post columnist Catherine Rampell slammed conservative commentator Shermichael Singleton for saying the country – and particularly the incoming Trump administration – should focus on “domestic skill development.”
“I'm not against legal immigration,” Singleton said Thursday. “But Americans didn't vote for Vivek Ramaswamy, they didn't vote for Elon Musk – they voted for Donald Trump in part because of his tough stance on immigration illegally – but also because I assume they believe that the president-elect wouldn't increase the number of individuals coming into the country, even legally, that could potentially negatively impact or disproportionately affect Americans as it pertains to certain types of jobs.”
But Rampell pushed back on Singleton’s view – which also reflected the opinions of many in MAGA world who also came out against Ramaswamy’s social media post that sparked the subject.
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“There is basically no evidence that bringing in high skilled talent over the past century has reduced employment for Americans,” Rampell said. “In fact, the opposite – that these are complementary jobs and that they end up creating these high skilled immigrants who come in, whether they're found in Fortune 500 companies or otherwise, end up creating a lot of opportunities for American workers and making American scientists more productive.”
But Singleton still wasn’t buying it.
“What Americans? Wait a minute, What Americans? Because again, to the point that I made earlier, we know that studies suggest that minorities are underrepresented in these fields,” he said. “There are a host of other Americans who are underrepresented in these fields, so perhaps they are creating jobs for some Americans, but certainly aren't Americans that I know or people who look like me.”
Singleton concluded the segment by adding that he was “vehemently against this.”
“We're allowing enough of these people to come into the country as it is,” he added.
