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Batya Ungar-Sargon joins Emily to flesh out her recent argument that Elon Musk turned attention to Britain’s grooming gang scandal on X as a way to distract from his feud with populists like Steve Bannon over foreign workers. Batya explores whether Musk will be able to purge Bannon-style populism from the second Trump administration.
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SubscribeWell, as someone from the UK who perhaps knows more about the grooming gang scandal, I am very grateful that Musk has amplified it. This is not an historic crime, it is still happening and still being covered up in many places. So I say thank Mr Musk, and please continue to post this.
Let’s try this one more time. My first posting mysteriously disappeared! Hm…
Such a disappointing stance from Battya! I’m so dissillusioned, and I’m sure she cares. Her discussion was mistaken in its premise that conservative masses (profiled as “MAGA”) are opposed to immigration in general. That’s wrong, and completely wrong, in my opinion. And I’m sure she cares about my opinion also.
Immigration in general was never the problem, except during the days of NAFTA and off-shoring manufacturing. All conservatives with whom I interact disliked illegal immigration, and we strongly recognize the desperate NEED we have for legal, selective immigration — both as replacements for the retiring and dying pre-millenials, but also to improve our competitive strengths among nations. As one of the most favored nations for migrant destination, we have the ability to be one of the most selective nations, attracting only the best and brightest from around the world, but only if we control the immigration gates. This is well-known.
Battya, unfortunately, your self-proclaimed leftist perspective has been compromised by the union narrative, which simplifies immigration as it was during the angry NAFTA off-shoring days. In those years, there was a clear erosion of American manufacturing employment, a clear erosion of American manufacturing salaries, and a clear dissipation of intellectual property to other nations. Immigration of low-pay workers and export of high-pay manufacturing jobs was lumped into one issue — part of the problem.
If the EU agrees to ignore the free-speech media of the US, then they’re free to put on their muffs, like other nations have done, and I’m confident they’ll become obsolete in their silent, dark, and cold corners. The world is changing as it must.
Such a disappointing stance from Battya! I’m so dissillusioned, and I’m sure she cares. Her discussion was mistaken in its premise that conservative masses (profiled as “MAGA”) are opposed to immigration in general. That’s wrong, and completely wrong, in my opinion. And I’m sure she cares about my opinion also.
Immigration in general was never the problem, except during the days of NAFTA and off-shoring manufacturing. All conservatives with whom I interact disliked illegal immigration, and we strongly recognize the desperate NEED we have for legal, selective immigration — both as replacements for the retiring and dying pre-millenials, but also to improve our competitive strengths among nations. As one of the most favored nations for migrant destination, we have the ability to be one of the most selective nations, attracting only the best and brightest from around the world, but only if we control the immigration gates. This is well-known.
Battya, unfortunately, your self-proclaimed leftist perspective has been compromised by the union narrative, which simplifies immigration as it was during the angry NAFTA off-shoring days. In those years, there was a clear erosion of American manufacturing employment, a clear erosion of American manufacturing salaries, and a clear dissipation of intellectual property to other nations. At that time, it was apparent that mass immigration of low-pay workers while exporting high-pay manufacturing jobs was lumped together — part of the same problem.
If the EU agrees to ignore the free-speech media of the US, then they’re free to put on their muffs, like other nations have done, and I’m confident they’ll become obsolete in their silent, dark, and cold corners. The world is changing as it must.
I wonder if Musk’s sudden interest in UK politics arises from the UK’s strict new rules governing social media companies? Indeed, Big Tech’s obviously lukewarm support of Biden/Harris in their reelection campaign might be due to the DOJ’s antitrust suits against Google, Facebook, etc.
Batya’s theory that Musk simply wants to distract attention from his comments regarding temporary worker visas is interesting and clever, but I’m more inclined to believe Musk is using the grooming gang scandal as a tool to teach the UK government about the consequences of challenging big tech.