CEOs of Intel, Merck and Under Armour quit Trump advisory panel over Charlottesville controversy

Reporting from Washington —  The chief executive of pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. publicly resigned from a White House manufacturing council on Monday, declaring he felt “a responsibility to take a stand against intolerance and extremism.”

The move by Kenneth Frazier, one of corporate America’s leading African American executives, came after President Trump was criticized for not explicitly condemning white supremacists after violent clashes with counter-protestors turned deadly in Charlottesville, Va., on Saturday.

Trump quickly lashed out at Frazier on Twitter.

“Now that Ken Frazier of Merck Pharma has resigned from President’s Manufacturing Council, he will have more time to LOWER RIPOFF DRUG PRICES!” Trump wrote less than an hour after Merck posted Frazier’s statement on Twitter.

About four hours later, Trump delivered a statement from the White House in which he denounced the hate groups at the center of Saturday’s violence.

“Racism is evil and those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other hate groups that are repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans,” Trump said.

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But he hadn’t forgotten about Merck. Later Monday, Trump slammed the company again on Twitter, calling it “a leader in higher & higher drug prices while at the same time taking jobs out of the U.S.”

The fallout continued Monday night as Kevin Plank, chief executive of athletic equipment maker Under Armour Inc., announced in a tweet that he was stepping down as well “to focus on inspiring & uniting through power of sport.”

He indicated the controversy led to his decision, saying the company “engages in innovation and sports, not politics.”

Intel CEO Brian Krzanich announced that he, too, would step down. “I stand with others for equality and improving US competitiveness,” he tweeted Monday night.

In a statement, Krzanich said he was resigning “to call attention to the serious harm our divided political climate is causing to critical issues.” He blamed politics for sidelining efforts to rebuild America’s manufacturing base.

They were among more than two dozen corporate executives and union officials advising the Trump administration on boosting American manufacturing. Now they have become the latest high-profile chief executives to leave a White House business council in recent weeks in protest of Trump’s statements or actions.

Frazier’s move was “a profile in business courage,” said John Paluszek, a former senior counsel at the public relations firm Ketchum.

“When you’re working in a capitalist system with private owners and your employers and customers, it does get a little bit sticky,” said Paluszek, who founded Business in Society, a website dealing with corporate social responsibility. “That’s why I think an element of courage comes into the discussion.”

In Frazier’s case, his personal experiences as an African American “comes to bear here,” Paluszek said. “CEOs are humans.”

After Trump’s initial comments in the wake of the deadly Charlottesville protest, blaming the violence “on many sides” without specifically denouncing the white nationalists who were at the center of the clashes, Merck posted a statement on Twitter from Frazier announcing his resignation from the 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 people are created equal,” Frazier said.

“As CEO of Merck and as a matter of personal conscience, I feel a responsibility to take a stand against intolerance and extremism,” he said.

Many on Twitter noted that Trump responded more quickly and specifically to Frazier’s resignation than he did to the violence in Charlottesville.

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights said that Trump “proves again he’s capable of immediate and personal condemnation. Why not for white supremacists?”

Other members of the council, which met with Trump shortly after his inauguration to provide their perspective on promoting more American manufacturing, decried the Charlottesville violence but did not say they were stepping down.

General Electric Corp. said it was a “proudly inclusive company” that has “no tolerance for hate, bigotry or racism.”

Its chairman, Jeffrey Immelt, would remain on the council, a GE spokesperson said, because “with more than 100,000 employees in the United States, it is important for GE to participate in the discussion on how to drive growth and productivity in the U.S.”

Campbell Soup Co. said its chief executive, Denise Morrison, would remain on the council as well.

Andrew Liveris, the chief executive of Dow Chemical Co., also appeared to be staying on the council.

He declared in a statement on Twitter that there was “no room for hatred, racism or bigotry” at his company.

But Liveris said Dow would “continue to work to strengthen the social and economic fabric of the communities where it operates — including supporting policies that help create employment opportunities in manufacturing and rebuild the American workforce.”

Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO labor union, issued a statement Sunday calling out the “hateful views and violent actions of white supremacists and neo-Nazis.”

“Any response must begin with our leaders, starting with President Trump, acknowledging this for what it is: domestic terrorism rooted in bigotry,” he said. On Monday, Trumka said the union was “assessing our role” on the council, which he said “has yet to hold any real meeting.”

Before he announced he was stepping down, Under Armour’s Plank said in a statement the company issued on Twitter on Monday that “There is no place for racism or discrimination in this world.”

Paluszek said executives on the council faced a difficult decision.

“It is a tough call for a lot of CEOs, not only on this political issue but also on many other issues...to find the balance between what is in the interest of the stakeholders of the company and what is in the public interest,” he said.

In June, Elon Musk, chief executive of Tesla Motors Inc. and SpaceX, and Robert Iger, chief executive of the Walt Disney Co., announced they were stepping down from White House councils after Trump announced he was withdrawing the United States from the Paris climate accord.

Musk was on the manufacturing council as well as the White House’s Strategic and Policy Advisory Council, a group of about 18 current and former business leaders and other experts who were given the task of providing Trump with their input about his economic agenda. Iger also served on the policy advisory council.

Twitter: @JimPuzzanghera

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UPDATES:

8 p.m.: This article was updated with Intel CEO Brian Krzanich’s resignation from the council.

5:50 p.m.: This article was updated with Under Armour’s Kevin Plank announcing he was stepping down from the council.

3:25 p.m.: This article was updated with an additional tweet from President Trump.

12:45 p.m.: This article was updated with comment from Campbell Soup and additional comment from Richard Trumka of the AFL-CIO.

12:15 p.m.: This article was updated with comments from Andrew Liveris of Dow Chemical and John Paluszek of Business in Society.

10:25 a.m.: This article was updated with comments from General Electric Corp.

10:05 a.m.: This article was updated with comments from President Trump.

9:45 a.m.: This story has been updated with comments from Richard Trumka and Kevin Plank, as well as background on previous resignations from White House business councils.

7:30 a.m.: This article was updated with comment from the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.

This article originally was published at 7 a.m.