Moments after Uber CEO Travis Kalanick announced his departure from the economic advisory council, SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk also released a statement with regards to the same. The legendary innovator, unlike Kalanick, isn’t planning to flee at the moment when his country requires him to take action against unjust actions.
Thus, Musk has today tweeted out a brief statement justifying his participation in the advisory council meeting scheduled for Friday. In this statement, he mentions that his attendance does not mean that he’s siding with the Trump administration. This action of his doesn’t, in any way, mean that he agrees with the executive order banning immigrants and refugees from seven Islamic countries entry into the U.S.
He further states that there is no denying the fact that some might eventually object to his presence at the advisory meeting with Trump. The said individuals have already started their retaliation by canceling pre-orders for their Tesla vehicles. But, this wildfire wasn’t as widespread as the #DeleteUber campaign which has caused deletion of over 200,000 accounts.
Musk states that it is extremely necessary for him as an advisor to the U.S President to present feedback on the country’s actions. And that’s what the innovator is planning to do. He is not going to be pressurized to follow along whatever change Trump will propose, instead he will engage in a dialogue with the President for the “the greater good.” The statement mentions that he will not be going up against the executive order alone, other members will also object against the order and offer suggestions.
This is the complete statement released by Elon Musk through his Twitter account:
Regarding the meeting at the White House: pic.twitter.com/8b1XH4oW6h
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 3, 2017
Earlier this week, Musk called out the President’s decision on Twitter by stating that the said order isn’t really the “best way to address the country’s challenges.” He further adds that those negatively affected by this decision are strong supporters of the country and they “don’t deserve to be rejected.” He even went as far as to collect feedback from individuals on potential amendments in the executive order.
The signing of an executive order to ban immigrants entry into the U.S has caused tech bigwigs to pool together resources and stand against an unjust decision. More than $24 million dollars have been donated by companies like Google, Microsoft, Twitter, Facebook and others to the ACLU to extend a helping hand to those stuck at immigration checkpoints. Some other like Amazon or Apple may be planning to pursue legal action against the administration.
Now, we’ll have to wait another day to know if the advisory council can convince to either rescind the order (highly unlikely) or make some necessary amends to the same. Stay tuned for more updates on this unfortunate situation.
