Washington: The CEOs of Intel, Merck and Under Armour have resigned from the President’s Manufacturing Council created by Donald Trump, because of the noncommittal way he responded to the racist attack in Charlottesville, Virginia.
The first to take that step was the CEO of the pharmaceutical giant Merck, Kenneth Frazier, who said without mentioning the US President by name that “America’s leaders must honour our fundamental values by clearly rejecting expressions of hatred, bigotry and group supremacy, which run counter to the American ideal that all people are created equal”.
He was followed by Intel CEO Brian Krzanich, who said he resigned “to call attention to the serious harm our divided political climate is causing to critical issues, including the serious need to address the decline of American manufacturing”, and called on all leaders “to condemn the white supremacists and their ilk who marched and committed violence” in Charlottesville, Efe reported.
Finally, the CEO of the Under Armour footwear brand, Kevin Plank, said on Twitter: “We remain resolute in our potential and ability to improve American manufacturing. However, Under Armour engages in innovation and sports, not politics.”
President Trump wasted no time in tweeting an answer to Frazier that slammed the head of the pharma company, but made no reply to Intel or Under Armour.
“Now that Ken Frazier of Merck Pharma has resigned from President’s Manufacturing Council, he will have more time to LOWER RIPOFF DRUG PRICES!” Trump said.
Besides the three CEOs, the AFL-CIO union, with its 12.5 million members, also said that it was pondering its future in Trump’s Manufacturing Council.
Trump on Monday condemned the Ku Klux Klan, white supremacists and neo-Nazis after almost 48 hours of silence following his first reaction to the violence in Charlottesville, which he blamed on “many sides,” and during which a young admirer of Nazism killed a young woman when he rammed his car into a crowd of anti-racist demonstrators.
