Paul Otellini, a member of President Barack Obama’s Jobs Council, threw his support to Mitt Romney. Otellini is the CEO of Intel. He reportedly donated a significant sum to the Republican nominee’s campaign. The Jobs Council had allegedly not met since January.
Otellini’s relathionship has run “hot-and-cold” with President Obama, according to the Wall Street Journal . In 2010, Otellini publicly criticized the current administration for failing to generate “robust” job growth. There was reportedly a plethora of fanfare when the Intel CEO joined the Jobs Council.
President Obama applauded Intel for investing in America during a trip to the chipmaker’s manufacturing plant in Oregon last year. During the president’s visit, Otellini announced that the company planned to build a $5 billion production facility in Arizona. The Intel official also made two very public trips to the White House while serving on the job creation committee. Otellini attended a state dinner with Chinese President Hu Jintao.
Last month the Silicon Valley company leader donated $50,000 to the Romney Victory Fund and wrote a separate check of $5,000 to the candidate, according to Federal Election Commission records republished by The Blaze . The GOP candidate has also reportedly garnered support from Charles Schwab, Cisco Chief Executive John Chambers, and Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus.
Otellini’s support for Mitt Romney comes on the heels of the release of the October unemployment numbers. The final workforce report unveiled before the election indicates that unemployment in America ticked up from 7.8 percent to 7.9 percent, according to USA Today . The number of citizens looking for work increased by approximately 578,000 individuals.