Musk calls Biden a liar over 1990s work authorization
High-profile Trump supporter Elon Musk denied working illegally in the United States, responding to President Joe Biden citing a Washington Post report that he might have worked in the country without appropriate work authorization earlier in his career in the 1990s.
"I was in fact allowed to work in the US. The Biden puppet is lying," Musk wrote on X, responding to a video clip of Biden criticizing Musk for working illegally when he was supposed to be studying.
The Washington Post reporting comes as Musk continues to bash undocumented immigrants and stress the importance of "legal immigration."
In 2013, Musk and his brother Kimbal Musk publicly talked about their experiences as founders of their company, describing their status as "illegal" and "grey area."
"In fact, when they, when they did fund us, they realized that we were illegal immigrants," Kimbal Musk said during the Milken Institute Global Conference.
"Well…" Elon Musk said.
"Yes, we were," Kimbal Musk responded.
"I'd say it was a gray area," Elon Musk said.
"Yes, we were," Kimbal Musk continued. "I was -- we were illegal immigrants. We were sleeping in the office. We didn't have a car -- we had one car, but the wheel kept falling."
The Washington Post story details Musk's alleged history of coming to the United States in the mid 1990s under a student visa and not actually enrolling in any classes -- instead using his time in the country to work on his startup company, which experts told the Post was illegal.
The article cites Musk's former business associates and investors of his startup expressing concerns about his visa status at the time, to the point that it had become an obstacle to going public with the startup company.
-ABC News’ Soorin Kim and Michelle Stoddart