Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) said he did not traffic in “conspiracy theories” on Sunday after ABC’s Jonathan Karl asked him to weigh in on attacks on Elon Musk by Steve Bannon.

On ABC’s This Week on Sunday, Karl made note of MAGA infighting over foreign work visa programs that has consumed GOP politics for days.

Friday and Saturday, Bannon launched attacks against Musk – who supports H-1B visa programs that allow companies to hire skilled workers from across the world. One faction of the right wants such programs suspended.

The other wants to continue to import top talent for complicated jobs.

Bannon, who is against H-1B visas, called Musk a “toddler” on his show Friday. Saturday mooring – before President-elect Donald Trump sided with Musk on the issue – Bannon referred to the Tesla CEO and other Trump tech allies as “nerds.”

When asking Lawler to weigh in, Karl noted:

There’s an all-out war on pushing back on Musk and the other tech entrepreneurs close to Trump on this issue. I mean, you’ve heard what we said at the top. I mean, Steve Bannon is calling Trump a toddler and saying this program’s a scam, and it’s about bringing indentured servants in to work for tech companies and the tech oligarchs are taking over the party. I mean, this is an all-out, I mean, you’re expressing a view as I just heard it, very similar to what Elon Musk has said.

Karl asked the New York Republican, “Why does it provoke this kind of blowback from so many other of Trump’s strongest supporters?”

Lawler replied, “Look, I don’t speak in conspiracy theories so you’ll have to ask, you know, Steve Bannon and others.”

The congressman concluded India has been producing more engineers than the US and advocated for improving th American education system so that jobs being filled now by foreign workers would someday go to American citizens.

Watch above via ABC News.

The post House Republican Tells ABC’s Jon Karl He Doesn’t ‘Speak In Conspiracy Theories’ When Asked to Respond to Steve Bannon’s Attacks on Elon Musk first appeared on Mediaite.

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