NEW YORK — President Joe Biden blasted Elon Musk for hypocrisy on immigration after a report emerged that the Tesla CEO once worked illegally in the United States. Musk, who was born in South Africa, denies the allegation.

“The richest man in the world turned out to be an illegal worker here. No, I’m serious. He was supposed to be in school when he came on a student visa. He wasn’t at school. He broke the law. And talk about all these illegals coming our way?” Biden said while campaigning Saturday in Pittsburgh at a union hall.

The Washington Post reported that Musk worked illegally in the country while on a student visa. The newspaper, citing company documents, former business associates and court filings, said Musk arrived in Palo Alto, Calif., in 1995 for a graduate program at Stanford University, “but never enrolled in classes, working in exchange at his startup”.

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

Investors in Musk’s company, Zip2, were concerned that their founder might be deported, according to the report, and gave him a deadline to obtain a work visa. The paper also cited a 2005 email from Musk to his Tesla co-founders in which he admits he did not have authorization to be in the US when he started Zip2.

According to the account, that email was submitted as evidence in a now-closed California defamation lawsuit and said Musk had applied to Stanford so he could stay in the country legally.

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

Trump has pledged to give Musk a role in his administration if he wins next month.

There was no immediate response to messages left with X and Tesla seeking Musk’s comment.