David Plouffe, Obama's 2008 campaign manager and former senior White House advisor, was hired by app-based car service company Uber to help it fight "the Big Taxi cartel," the company's CEO announced Tuesday.
"[O]ur mission has become a surprisingly controversial topic," CEO Travis Kalanick
wrote in a company blog post announcing the hire. "Over the years, what I’ve come to realize is that this controversy exists because we are in the middle of a political campaign and it turns out the candidate is Uber."
With an extensive background in politics, Kalanick explained that Plouffe will help Uber navigate the byzantine regulatory structures the company's come up against in nearly every city it's entered since its founding in 2009.
Urgent: Do You Approve Or Disapprove of President Obama's Job Performance? Vote Now in Urgent Poll
Specifically, Plouffe's job will be to fight local taxi associations that have "used decades of political contributions and influence to restrict competition, reduce choice for consumers, and put a stranglehold on economic opportunity for its drivers."
After helping Obama win his first term in 2008, Plouffe was appointed a senior presidential advisor in 2011, and
The Washington Post noted that he "stands to be perhaps the biggest financial winner among Obama alumni" considering Uber's recent valuation of over $18 billion.
Plouffe's hire comes just weeks after the Republican National Committee
posted a petition on GOP.com in support of Uber.
"Our cities deserve innovative and effective solutions without government getting in the way. That’s what innovative businesses like Uber provide," it wrote.
"But across the country, taxi unions and liberal government bureaucrats are setting up roadblocks, issuing strangling regulations and implementing unnecessary red tape to block Uber from doing business in their cities."
On Twitter, many users pointed out the irony inherent in Plouffe — part of an administration that's increased government regulations dramatically — fighting to deregulate cities across the nation.
Urgent: Assess Your Heart Attack Risk in Minutes. Click Here.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.