Merck CEO resigns from Trump’s manufacturing council
Kenneth Frazier, the CEO of Merck, is one of three chief executives to step down from US President Donald Trump’s manufacturing council.
Frazier, along with Brian Krzanich of Intel, and Kevin Plank of Under Armour, resigned from the President’s American Manufacturing Council, following Trump’s initial response to violence which took place at a rally of white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia.
The council was set up to advise Trump about US manufacturing. It is chaired by Andrew Liveris, CEO of Dow Chemical Company.
On Saturday, August 12, Heather Heyer was killed and 19 others were hurt when a car rammed into people protesting against a far-right march.
Trump had been criticised for not specifically denouncing extremists in his initial comments on the violence.
But yesterday Trump denounced the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis and white supremacists as “repugnant” to everything Americans hold dear.
“Racism is evil. And those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs,” he said.
In a tweet, Frazier said he was resigning as a “matter of personal conscience”, adding that he feels a “responsibility to take a stand against intolerance and extremism”.
Trump hit back in two separate tweets.
His first tweet, published yesterday, said: “Now that Ken Frazier of Merck has resigned from President’s Manufacturing Council, he will have more time to LOWER RIPOFF DRUG PRICES!”
The second tweet added: “Merck Pharma is a leader in higher & higher drug prices while at the same time taking jobs out of the U.S. Bring jobs back & LOWER PRICES!”
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