Only a few short weeks after his inauguration, President Trump has already executed a few policies that have been called into question by a significant amount of Americans. However, one of his most controversial ones thus far has been his travel ban on predominantly Muslim countries. As soon as news of this struck, protests around the world began. One that raised a lot of attention took place at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport last week where taxi drivers planned to boycott the area for an hour to show their support for those having trouble getting back into the country.
While taxi drivers were taking their stand, Uber drivers attempted to continue business as normal; however, this ended up causing much more trouble for them than it was probably worth. After tweeting that they would be lifting surge prices around the JFK airport amidst the taxis’ boycott, people everywhere blew up social media with the hashtag #DeleteUber. People took this tweet to mean that the company supported Trump and his newly instated ban, and thought they were taking advantage of the business opportunity. The hashtag went viral and people immediately started deleting their Uber accounts and encouraging others to use their competitor, Lyft, instead.
Nevertheless, after the initial madness of the social media frenzy, it has come to light that this was not the message Uber intended to send when lifting surges at the airport. In fact, it was quite the opposite. In a later statement to Business Insider, Uber explained that they “wanted people to know they could use Uber to get to and from JFK at normal prices.” In no way was this meant to be taken as a sign of support for Trump or his ban.
CEO Travis Kalanick also took to his Facebook account to express his support for those suffering from the effects of the “unjust ban.” He explained that drivers who have left the country are unable to get back and make a living for themselves and their families. He vowed to support them, provide them with compensation despite being unable to work, and to fight for their right to travel back to the U.S. He even created a Google form for affected drivers to fill out in order to help fund them. Additionally, Kalanick has stepped down from his position on Trump’s economic advisory council, saying that his involvement was not meant to endorse Donald Trump in any way.
So, before you #DeleteUber as a sign of protest against Trump and find yourself with no ride home, consider everything Travis Kalanick has done to try to help those affected by Trump’s wrongful ban.