Musk, who was born in South Africa, received an H-1B visa. So while it might not be surprising that Musk is a fan of the visa program, his views diverge from many right-wingers, prompting online drama. “The number of people who are super talented engineers AND super motivated in the USA is far too low,” Musk wrote on Wednesday. “Think of this like a pro sports team: if you want your TEAM to win the championship, you need to recruit top talent wherever they may be. That enables the whole TEAM to win.” Pressed by one commenter about denying “real Americans that opportunity by bringing foreigners here,” Musk countered that the user’s “understanding of the situation is upside-down and backwards.” Advertisement “OF COURSE my companies and I would prefer to hire Americans and we DO, as that is MUCH easier than going through the incredibly painful and slow work visa process,” Musk said. “HOWEVER, there is a dire shortage of extremely talented and motivated engineers in America.” “This is not about handing out opportunities from some magical hat. You don’t get it,” he continued. “This is blindingly obvious when looking at NBA teams, as the physical differences are so obvious to see. However, the MENTAL differences between humans are FAR bigger than the physical differences!!” Musk’s comments in support of hiring foreign workers quickly sparked backlash from conservatives. Much of the commentary included presumptions about the race of the foreign workers to which Musk referred. “We don’t want or need to turn this country into India,” reads one viral response to Musk’s post. Advertisement