• President Joe Biden said Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, now a Republican megadonor, launched his long career in the United States as an “illegal worker.”
• Biden’s comments about Musk followed a Washington Post report that cited correspondence, legal records and several people who helped Musk obtain a work visa in 1996 when he was already working here without one.
• Musk has become a regular campaign surrogate for Donald Trump in the presidential race against Vice President Kamala Harris.

President Joe Biden called Tesla and CEO of SpaceX Elon Musknow a Republican megadonor and Trump campaign surrogate, was accused Saturday of hypocrisy on immigration, saying Musk launched his long career in the United States as an “illegal worker” before becoming the richest man of the world.

The president made the remarks during a campaign event in support of Democrats held Saturday in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Calling Musk a wealthy new “ally” of former President Donald Trump, Biden said, “This richest man in the world turned out to be an illegal worker here when he was here,” referring to Musk.

“He was supposed to be at school when he arrived on a student visa. He wasn’t at school. He was breaking the law. He’s talking about all these ‘illegals’ coming to us,” added Biden.

He then criticized Trump and Republicans for failing to sign legislation that would solve “the border problem.” He added: “We have fewer people crossing the border illegally now – or crossing the border – than at any time since his third year as president of the United States. »

The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment on Biden’s remarks.

Musk recently held a series of town hall-style events in the same swing state of Pennsylvania, where he sought to convince voters to support Trump and his policies. Musk also boosted his fan base by handing out $1 million lottery-style prizes to registered voters in swing states who signed a petition distributed by his pro-Trump group, America PAC.

According to a analysis by According to the Peterson Institute for International Economics, Trump’s new immigration policy proposals include plans for the largest deportation operation in U.S. history, ending birthright, revoking visas and the expulsion of foreign students who are pro-Palestinian protesters, among others.

Biden’s comments about Musk, his alliance with Trump and hypocrisy on immigration followed a Washington Post report which cites correspondence, legal records and several people who helped Musk obtain a work visa in 1996 when he was already working here without a visa.

Musk had arrived in the United States with the stated intention of attending graduate school at Stanford in the mid-1990s. He did not enroll in the program he said he was accepted to and instead began building a funded startup by venture capital called Zip2 with his brother.

The Washington Post wrote that investors in Musk’s first company were worried about their “founder’s” deportation and gave him a deadline to obtain a work visa.

Zip2 sold approximately $300 million in 1999, a windfall that allowed Elon Musk to later become an early investor and chairman of Tesla, and launch his capital-intensive aerospace venture SpaceX, which today is a major American defense contractor.

These companies propelled Musk to become the richest person in the world on paper. According to Forbes, the Tesla CEO’s net worth is approximately $274 billion Today.

In late 2022, Musk used this considerable wealth to acquire the social network Twitter in a $44 billion buyout.

On the platform, since renamed UNITED STATES.

He also shared the false claim that non-citizens routinely vote in US elections, a conspiracy theory launched by conservative groups lay the legal groundwork to challenge the election results if the Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, wins the presidency.

In the United States, it is already a federal crime for non-citizens to register or vote in federal elections and a felony under each state’s laws.

According to studies compiled by the Brennan Center for Justice, “in-depth research reveals that fraud is very rare, that voter impersonation is virtually non-existent, and that many cases of suspected fraud are, in fact, errors made by voters or administrators. The same goes for absentee ballotswhich are safe and essential for holding safe elections in the context of the coronavirus pandemic. »

— CNBC’s Rebecca Picciotto contributed to this report.