Tech executives like Tesla’s Elon Musk and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg did a disservice for themselves, and possibly the country, when they skipped a Monday meeting with the Trump administration, according to Florida Gov. Rick Scott.
Eighteen prominent executives were set to meet with Trump and his associates, specifically senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner who made his first public remarks as a member of the administration while addressing the tech leaders. Zuckerberg reportedly couldn’t attend the meeting because of a “scheduling conflict.” Musk vowed to leave President Donald Trump’s business advisory teams after the White House bowed out of the Paris climate agreement.
“If you care about the direction of this country, if you have the opportunity to go to the White House and sit down with the President of the United States, whether it’s a Republican or Democrat, show up,” Scott told CNN’s Erin Burnett during a televised interview. “Show up and tell him what you believe. Look, no one is going to agree with everything you do, none of us do. But I would be there, I would show up, and I would talk about what I care about.”
Some of the executives who reportedly attended have been outspoken about their opinions of Trump, while others have seemed to stay out of the limelight when it comes to their views of the president.
Eric Schmidt of Alphabet (the parent company of Google), for example, isn’t shy about his distaste for Trump and, conversely, his affinity for liberal causes and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Palantir Chairman Peter Thiel, on the other hand, has been somewhat of an ambassador for Trump. He spoke out in support of him during the Republican National Convention and donated a large sum of money to his campaign in the later months of the 2016 presidential election.
Zuckerberg’s enthusiasm for the Trump administration, however, is tepid at best, while his criticism for its policies are apparent yet somewhat measured. Musk seemed very willing to work with the White House at first, and usually only chose to voice his opinion at select times. But rescinding American membership in the Paris climate accord seemed to be a significant enough of a policy decision for Musk to want to exit the council.
“I think it’s a missed opportunity,” said Brown. “I think it’s important to sit down with the president and tell him what you think.”
[contentcards url=”http://dailycaller.com/2017/06/20/florida-gov-criticizes-zuckerberg-musk-for-being-white-house-no-shows/” target=”_blank”]Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected].