Ford was famously the one Detroit-based automaker that did not take any federal bailouts from Barack Obama and now, for some unexplainable reason, one of its executives has gotten the personal thanks of no less than Vice President Joe Biden.
On a visit to the Detroit Auto Show on January 16, a pool reporter caught a snippet of a conversation between the VP and Bill Ford, Jr., the executive chairman of Ford Motor Company, just as Biden was effusively praising Ford.
“Thank you for saving our ass,” Biden reportedly said to Ford.
The pool reporter wasn’t exactly sure what Biden was so thankful for, but it is interesting to note that Ford was the one big carmaker that turned its back on federal handouts.
Ford was so stiffnecked against taking bailouts that the company even produced an anti-bailout TV commercial that riled the administration so much that the carmaker quickly dumped the ad campaign for fear of further angering Obama.
On the other hand, General Motors did take Obama’s bailout cash but was much derided as “Government Motors” for having done so. Now that the American people put billions into the automaker to “save” it, bailout recipient Chrysler is being bought out by Italian carmaker Fiat.
So, the question becomes, was Biden thanking Ford for not accepting Obama’s bailout money and thereby staying an American-owned company? Or does he simply not know this distinction between Ford and Detroit’s other auto companies?
America would like to know.
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