What did Steve Bannon say about Elon Musk? Feud history explored as former WH chief strategist rips into Tesla CEO

Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon ripped into Tesla CEO Elon Musk on January 8. News outlet Breitbart published excerpts of Bannon’s interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera on January 11, in which Bannon pledged to “take this guy down,” while referring to Musk. This comes after President-elect Donald Trump tapped Musk to lead a White House advisory group.

In the interview, MAGA activist and former Donald Trump advisor, Steve Bannon, said:

“He is a truly evil guy, a very bad guy. I made it my personal thing to take this guy down. Before, because he put money in, I was prepared to tolerate it- I’m not prepared to tolerate it any more.”

Bannon then claimed that he will have Musk “run out” by “inauguration day,” which is scheduled to take place on January 20. The former then said:

“He will not have full access to the White House. He will be like any other person.”

Steve Bannon is the former executive chairman of Breitbart News and is also the host of the War Room podcast. The former Cambridge Analytica board member served in Trump’s first administration before being discharged by the to-be POTUS.

Bannon also fired at Musk in December after the latter doubled down on his support for the H1-B work visas, which many Republicans are firmly against, including Bannon.

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“Need to do a ‘wellness check’ on this toddler”: Steve Bannon blasted Elon Musk in December amid H1-B work visa discussion

In late December, Elon Musk took to X to discuss immigration and how the aforementioned visa has led to America becoming a strong nation. Musk said on December 28:

“The reason I’m in America along with so many critical people who build SpaceX, Tesla and hundreds of other companies that made America strong is because of H1B. Take a big step back and F**K YOURSELF in the face. I will go to war on this issue the likes of which you cannot comprehend.”

In response to the South Africa-born entrepreneur, Steve Bannon said:

“Someone people notify ‘Child Protective Services’ - need to do a ‘well check’ on this toddler.”

Bannon went on to say on the War Room podcast that the tech leader was “on the spectrum.” Bannon said:

“The nerd don’t take criticism. They’re kind of, you know, they’re a little bit all on the spectrum, right? They don’t know- they’re not deep on social skills.”

Despite Bannon being firmly against the H-1B work visa, tech entrepreneur and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has been in support of the H1-B work visa.

Discussing the H1-B work visa yet again, Bannon told Breitbart recently:

“This thing of the H-1B visas, it’s about the entire immigration system is gamed by the tech overlords. They use it to their advantage. The people are furious. He [Elon Musk] should go back to South Africa. Why do we have South Africans, the most racist people on earth, white South Africans, we have them making any comments at all on what goes on in the United States?”

Bannon then opined that Musk solely wanted “to become a trillionaire.” He added:

“I don’t support that and we will fight it. He [Elon Musk] won’t fight. He’s got the maturity of a little boy.”

According to Forbes, Elon Musk became one of Trump’s closest confidants after spending over $200 million on the latter’s 2024 presidential campaign.

Musk had not responded to Steve Bannon’s latest comments at the time of writing this article.