Telsa and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has clarified that he will attend the next meeting of US President Donald Trump’s Advisory Forum. Musk’s comments come in the wake of Uber CEO Travis Kalanick quitting the business advisory group amid mounting criticism.
Like Kalanick, the Tesla chief has been criticised for his position on the board, with reports of customers cancelling pre-orders due to his participation in the council.
In a statement posted on Twitter on 3 February, Musk said that being on the council does not translate into agreement with the Trump administration.
After the announcement of the executive order on the immigration ban, Musk said that refugees “don’t deserve to be rejected”.
Musk said he agreed to join the council “to provide feedback on issues that I think are important for our country and the world”.
The 19-member economic advisory council, that was constituted last December, includes CEOs of Disney, PepsiCo and Wal-Mart.
Kalanick stepped down on Thursday after his decision to attend the meeting reportedly led to 2,00,000 people deleting their Uber accounts. “Joining the group was not meant to be an endorsement of the president or his agenda, but unfortunately it has been misinterpreted to be exactly that,” said Kalanick.
His announcement has put the limelight on the other CEOs who are expected to attend the next meeting of the council. General Motors said its CEO would attend, while Disney said earlier on Thursday its CEO would not attend because of a long-planned-board meeting.
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