Though the Musk brothers’ remarks on their past immigration status may not have wreaked havoc at the time of the interview, they are raising eyebrows in 2024
Elon Musk has famously been a critic of illegal immigrants since his visit to the US-Mexico border in 2023. Following his endorsement of Donald Trump, the tech billionaire has been a regular in political discussions online, notably on X, formerly Twitter, which he acquired nearly two years ago. Despite his self-proclaimed “pro-immigrant” status, Elon has called for limits to be set on who is allowed in the country. As immigration continues to be one of the hot topics on voters’ minds, a controversial clip from a 2013 interview featuring the SpaceX founder and his brother has resurfaced online.
Kimbal Musk says he and Elon were ‘illegal immigrants’ in resurfaced video
In the decade-old interview at the Milken Institute Global Conference, the Musk brothers detailed the hardships they faced during their move from South Africa to Canada and later to the United States. The resurfaced clip, which has been a subject of controversy online, shows the sibling duo talking about the challenges of raising money for Zip2, a now-defunct company which Elon founded in 1995.
Expressing their shock over how landing a $3 investment for the company, Kimbal Musk said, “When they did fund us, they realized that we were illegal immigrants.” However, Elon quickly interjected with, “Well, I mean…,” only to be interrupted by his younger brother, who asserted that they indeed “were illegal immigrants.” To this, Elon pointed out, “I’d say it was a gray area” as the crowd burst out in laughter.
