How does it help to drive out a smart person from Trump's sphere of influence? This man needs as much help as he can get.
Our long-term prospects are better if we stumble for 4 years and prove that flushing out competent but flawed public servants, who believe in and preserve the principles of our system, and replacing them with reality TV hosts is not an improvement.
This is an inflection point in history that will inform future generations whether winning an election with lying, demagoguery, and appeal to fear is a winning long-term strategy or a losing one.
It seems that Travis was essentially shamed into virtue signaling by quitting.
At the time Travis was invited to join the council, there was already more than enough information known about Trump to warrant declining the invitation.
Temporarily closing the border to foreigners may hurt the economy. It may hurt the US status abroad. It may even frighten people because we all know what closing the borders usually is a prelude to.
However it will not destroy America. It does not automatically make the US a fascist state.
My view is that the US, the UK, France, and Germany are entering a period where they will draw back from international affairs and focus on domestic policy. This isolationism in the US already reminds me of existing protectionism, and pro-homeland sentiment in Europe.
A shallow, short-term palliative benefit is still a benefit, might make a big difference to a lot of people, and shouldn't be dismissed out of hand but weighed against alternatives.
Elon Musk has a lot more social capital, but I imagine a few snafus like this could land him in the same position.
Also, many younger politically activist liberals live in urban areas where they might not have a car at all, but may use Uber on a regular basis.
Uber is seen as a taxi-replacement, and everyone uses taxis.
They're even trying to get into delivery services, so anytime you order Pizza, you might hear the Uber name.'
Additionally the criticism of Uber is spearheaded by their competitors who already didn't like them. The taxi union of NYC has been broadly critical leading to the #deleteUber hashtag, but taxis who are being driven out of business by Uber were already inclined to oppose them.
Tesla on the other hand doesn't have as much existing organized opposition with connections to the broad public masses. Who hates Tesla? Car dealerships who have statutory privilege, but everyone already dislikes car salesmen.