The backlash escalated Thursday, when Vivek Ramaswamy, in a post on X, criticized an American culture that he said “venerated mediocrity over excellence.”

The world's wealthiest tycoon wants more visas for engineering talent, but conservatives including RFK Jr. vice-presidential pick are savaging the H-1B program as predatory.

"Our American culture has venerated mediocrity over excellence," Ramawamy wrote in a long post arguing that foreign workers improve the competitiveness of the US economy. But the post quickly attracted backlash from Trump supporters who are strongly opposed to immigration of any sort.