WASHINGTON (CNN) — Merck CEO Kenneth Frazier quit President Trump’s manufacturing council on Monday after Trump failed to condemn white supremacists.
“America’s leaders must honor our fundamental values by clearly rejecting expressions of hatred, bigotry and group supremacy,” Frazier said in a statement posted on Twitter by the company.
Trump immediately responded on Twitter with an attack on Frazier,
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
Frazier is one of the country’s most prominent black corporate executives.
Trump cited violence “on many sides” after neo-Nazis and white nationalists clashed with counter-protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia, over the weekend.
Frazier’s exit marks another rebuke to Trump from corporate America. Trump’s June 1 decision to leave the Paris climate accord led Tesla CEO Elon Musk to step down from the manufacturing panel as well as a separate business advisory council.
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