The chief executives of Intel Corp, Merck & Co Inc and Under Armour Inc resigned from U.S. 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…,” Intel Chief Executive Brian Krzanich said in a blog post. intel.ly/2fFOjAd
Kenneth Fraizer, the chief executive of drugmaker Merck and an African-American, 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.”
The AFL-CIO, a federation of labor unions that represent 12.5 million workers, said it was considering pulling its representative on the committee.
After the white nationalist rally turned deadly on Saturday, Trump initially said that many sides were to blame. On Monday, in a statement, Trump denounced neo-Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan as criminals and thugs, bowing to mounting political pressure as critics assailed him for not singling out white supremacists.
Video by BloombergTV via Inform: Under Armour Inc.’s Kevin Plank and Intel Corp.’s Brian Krzanich joined fellow chief executive officer Kenneth Frazier of Merck & Co. in resigning from a White House business group that advises President Donald Trump. Bloomberg’s Stephanie Baker reports on “Bloomberg Surveillance.”[/vc_message]
