CNN's Sara Sidner dismissed a Republican strategist's analysis of the MAGA clash between Donald Trump's business allies and his anti-immigrant base.
Right-wing influencers attacked Trump's wealthy advisers Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy over their support for H-1B visas allowing skilled foreign workers to stay in the U.S., but GOP strategist Neil Chatterjee insisted the president-elect's political opponents were trying to crack the MAGA coalition.
"Look, I think what this is, is an attempt to divide MAGA and DOGE because I think the political left is concerned that they might actually be successful [in cutting $2 trillion from the federal budget], and so they're looking at ways to drive rifts," Chatterjee said.
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Sidner interrupted with a fact check.
"Wait," she said. "The left is not the one that's coming after Vivek, it is the right coming after him, going hard on him."
Chatterjee, who served on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission during Trump's first term, pressed on with his point.
"There's a reason we're talking about this this morning, because the left wants to divide president Trump and Elon musk and Elon went on and he clarified it," Chatterjee said, "and he used a sports reference. He said this is like going and getting Victor Wembanyama the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft from France. This is about getting the best of the best here in the U.S. Look, I'm the son of immigrants, my parents emigrated to this country. They came here to cure cancer, they had a number of vaccines in an attempt to cure cancer, and there is no one more patriotic and loves this country more than my family, because that is the American dream, and we're living that dream. That's all Vivek was saying, and what Elon is saying, if not for the fact that they were running the DOGE in an effort to shrink the federal bureaucracy, I don't think this would be an issue. I don't even think this would be garnering attention. This is an attempt to basically divide president Trump and, you know, these folks from the tech industry who have been instrumental in his success."
Sidner was dubious, and turned the topic over to political contributor Christine Quinn, who looked similarly doubtful.
"That is one take," Sidner said. "Christine, I see you side-eyeing. What's your take on what you saw?"
Quinn agreed that Musk and Ramaswamy were being attacked by the right, who were angry that they suggested American workers were not skilled enough to take advanced jobs.
"It's just strange that something that president-elect Trump's really closest advisers, some have called him the unelected president, Elon Musk," Quinn said. "He made this statement. It's not like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said this statement. He said it directly, kind of attacking the quality of Americans, American scientists, American minds. If he is concerned that we don't have a high enough skill level or a high enough educational level, then he should step away from the proposals in Project 2025 that call for eliminating the Department of Education and cutting educational programs. This isn't about the left."
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