Merck CEO quits Trump advisory panel over Charlottesville
US president, who had been under fire for not explicitly condemning neo-Nazi groups, lashes out at Kenneth Frazier for leaving
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
NEW YORK — US President Donald Trump lambasted Merck’s CEO on Monday, after the African-American pharmaceutical executive resigned from a White House advisory council, citing Trump’s controversial response to a violent white supremacist rally.
Merck chief executive Kenneth Frazier, alluding to Trump’s much-criticized response to a deadly weekend white supremacist protest, said he was exiting Trump’s American Manufacturing Council.
“America’s leaders must honor our fundamental values by clearly rejecting expressions of hatred, bigotry and group supremacy, which run counter to the American ideal that all men are created equal,” Frazier wrote on Twitter.
“As CEO of Merck and as a matter of personal conscience, I feel a responsibility to take a stand against intolerance and extremism.”
— Merck (@Merck) August 14, 2017
Trump, also on Twitter, responded about an hour later.
“Now that Ken Frazier of Merck Pharma has resigned from President’s Manufacturing Council, he will have more time to LOWER RIPOFF DRUG PRICES!” the US president said.
Now that Ken Frazier of Merck Pharma has resigned from President's Manufacturing Council,he will have more time to LOWER RIPOFF DRUG PRICES!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 14, 2017
The White House came under fire after Trump refused to explicitly condemn white supremacists for their role in a violent protest Saturday in the southern state of Virginia.
Later Monday Trump issued an explicit condemnation.
A woman died and 19 people were injured in the city of Charlottesville when a car plowed into a crowd of people after a rally by Ku Klux Klan members and other white nationalists turned violent. Two state police officers died in a helicopter crash near the area.
In an appearance on Saturday at his golf resort in Bedminster, New Jersey, Trump faulted “many sides” for the violence. He made no mention of the far-right militia groups involved in the Charlottesville melee, some of whom were wearing Trump hats or T-shirts.
White House officials have since made explicit they oppose bigotry and white supremacy. Several top officials, including Vice President Mike Pence and White House adviser Ivanka Trump, have spoken forcefully against hate groups.
But Trump, whose presidential campaign was championed by prominent white supremacists such as David Duke, has come under fire from many in his own party for not speaking out clearly on the matter.
The Times of Israel Community.