Trump lashes out at Merck CEO for departing advisory council
Frazier criticized president for failing to rebuke protesters.
President Donald Trump on Monday lashed out at the CEO of the nation’s third-largest pharmaceutical company after he resigned from a federal advisory council, citing the president’s failure to explicitly rebuke the white nationalists who marched in Charlottesville, Va.
Merck CEO Kenneth Frazier wrote on Twitter that “America’s leaders must honor our fundamental values by clearly rejecting expressions of hatred, bigotry and group supremacy, which runs counter to the American ideal that all people are created equal.”
Frazier is one of the few African-Americans to head a Fortune 500 company.
Trump lashed out almost immediately, saying on Twitter that Frazier will now “have more time to LOWER RIPOFF DRUG PRICES!”
The exchange lit up social media, with many people lauding Frazier and blasting the president. Trump eventually made a statement condemning bigotry Monday afternoon at a news conference.
Unilever CEO Paul Polman wrote on Twitter, “Thanks @ Merck Ken Frazier for strong leadership to stand up for the moral values that made this country what it is.”
Frazier is not the first executive to resign from advisory councils serving Trump.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk resigned from the manufacturing council in June after the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement. Walt Disney Co. Chairman and CEO Bob Iger resigned from the president’s Strategic and Policy Forum for the same reason.