Biden criticizes Musk over reports that the South African-born businessman was working illegally in the US

New York – President Joe Biden slammed Elon Musk for his hypocrisy on immigration following a report that the Tesla CEO once worked illegally in the United States. Musk, who was born in South Africa, denies the allegations.

“This richest man in the world turned out to be an illegal worker here. No, I’m serious. He was supposed to be at school when he arrived on a student visa. He wasn’t at school. He was violating the law. And he’s talking about all these illegal people coming towards us? Biden said while campaigning in Pittsburgh on Saturday at a union hall.

The Washington Post reported that Musk worked illegally in the country while on a student visa. The newspaper, citing company records, former business partners and court documents, said Musk came to Palo Alto, California, in 1995 as part of a graduate program at Stanford University “but never enrolled in courses, instead that’s why he was working on his start-up.”

Musk wrote on X in response to a video post with Biden’s comments: “I was actually allowed to work in the US.” Musk added: “Biden’s puppet is lying.”

The report said investors in Musk’s company, Zip2, were concerned about the possibility of their founder being deported and gave him a deadline to obtain a work visa. The newspaper also cited a 2005 email from Musk to his Tesla co-founders in which he confirmed that he did not have permission to be in the U.S. when he founded Zip2.

According to reports, the email was introduced as evidence in a now-closed defamation lawsuit in California and contained information that Musk had asked Stanford to stay in the country legally.

Musk is today the richest man in the world. He has contributed more than $70 million to help Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and other GOP candidates win on Nov. 5 and is one of the party’s largest donors this campaign season. He headlined events in the final stages of the White House race, often echoing Trump’s dark rhetoric against immigration.

Trump has said that if he wins next month, he will give Musk a role in his administration.

There was no immediate response to messages left by X and Tesla seeking comment from Musk.