U.S. CEO S QUIT TRUMP COUNCIL
Intel, Merck, Under Armour bosses opt out after president’s tepid response to violence at rally
THE chief executive officers (CEOs) of Intel Corp, Merck & Co Inc and Under Armour Inc resigned from President Donald Trump’s American Manufacturing Council on Monday, following Trump’s initially tepid response to weekend violence at a rally of white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia.
“I resigned from the council to call attention to the serious harm our divided political climate is causing to critical issues...,” wrote Intel chief executive Brian Krzanich in a blog post.
Kenneth Frazier, the CEO of drugmaker Merck, said he left the advisory council because of the president’s reaction after the violence between white supremacists and counter protesters.
Frazier cited the need to “take a stand against intolerance and extremism”.
After the white nationalist rally turned deadly on Saturday, Trump initially said many sides were to blame.
The CEO of Under Armour, Kevin Plank, announced his resignation from the council in a Twitter post. “We remain resolute in our potential and ability to improve American manufacturing,” said Plank.
Other top business leaders also spoke out in response to the violence in Charlottesville.
“I support Ken Frazier’s decision. I’m thankful we have business leaders such as Ken to remind America of its better angels,” said Hewlett Packard Enterprises CEO Meg Whitman.
Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein tweeted: “Lincoln: ‘A house divided against itself cannot stand.’ Isolate those who try to separate us. No equivalence w/ those who bring us together.”
Richard Trumka, president of the largest federation of US labour unions, the AFL-CIO, which represent 12.5 million workers, questioned the council’s effectiveness and said the group was mulling leaving.