DETROIT SHOW: Sen. Corker, outspoken on auto aid, visits show

Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., an outspoken critic of domestic automakers, kicked the tires on the federal government’s investment today.

Corker, who was critical of the auto-aid legislation tossed around in Congress last month, visited the North American International Auto Show in Detroit this afternoon and toured displays scattered throughout the event hall. Throughout the walk around the hall floor, several officials from the U.S. automakers — like Chrysler design chief Ralph Gilles and Mark Fields, Ford’s president of the Americas — greeted the senator, showed off their products and gave their pitches on viability. 

Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox, who penned a letter in the Washington Post Tuesday inviting every senator to visit the auto show in Detroit, met Corker in the middle of Chrysler’s vehicles.

“I drove here in my Ford Fusion, if you want to come take a ride,” he told Corker amid a crowd of reporters.

The Bush administration granted GM and Chrysler $17.4 billion in loans last month.