CEO quits Trump panel, stresses ‘values’
Merck chief cites tepid response to white nationalists
N.J. — President Donald Trump 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 at the time to explicitly rebuke the white nationalists who marched in Charlottesville, Va.
Merck CEO Kenneth Frazier wrote on Twitter on Monday 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.
Later Monday, Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank resigned from the White House’s American Manufacturing Council, saying his company “engages in innovation and sports, not politics.”
Trump came under increasing pressure to call out the white supremacist and hate groups involved. He lashed out almost immediately on Monday following the Frazier resignation, saying on Twitter that Frazier will now “have more time to LOWER RIPOFF DRUG PRICES!” Later, Trump deTRENTON, clared, “Racism is evil,” and he singled out the hate groups as “repugnant to everything that we hold dear as Americans.”
Drugmakers have come under withering criticism for soaring prices in the U.S., including by Trump, though he has yet to act on a promise to contain them.
With the barb, Trump appeared to attack an industry executive who has tried to make drug pricing somewhat more transparent by revealing his company’s overall drug price changes.
In January, Merck reported that its average net prices — the amount the company receives after discounts and other rebates — increased in the years since 2010 in a range from 3.4 to 6.2 percent per year. That’s about half as large as the increase in its retail prices.
Much of the furor over drug prices recently has been over increases that have been far bigger and come one after another for drugs that have been on the market for years.
The exchange lit up social media early on Monday, with many people lauding Frazier and blasting the president. Trump eventually made a statement condemning bigotry Monday afternoon at a press conference.
Meanwhile, other executives stated their support for Frazier.
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, who grew up in Philadelphia, resigned days after one person was killed and others wounded in violent clashes between white supremacists and protesters.
Frazier and his siblings were raised by their father, a janitor, after their mother died when he was young. He has earned a reputation as a risk taker in the drug industry, pouring money into daunting research areas.