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| African American CEO Kenneth Frazier quits Trump panel after Charlottesville | African American CEO Kenneth Frazier quits Trump panel after Charlottesville |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| One of the US’s most high-profile African American executives has quit Donald Trump’s business advisory panel, citing “a responsibility to take a stand against violence and extremism”. | One of the US’s most high-profile African American executives has quit Donald Trump’s business advisory panel, citing “a responsibility to take a stand against violence and extremism”. |
| Kenneth Frazier, chief executive officer of the pharmaceutical giant Merck, made the announcement Monday as Trump faces mounting criticism over his failure to directly criticize the white nationalists at the center of the weekend’s fatal protests in Charlottsville, Virginia. | Kenneth Frazier, chief executive officer of the pharmaceutical giant Merck, made the announcement Monday as Trump faces mounting criticism over his failure to directly criticize the white nationalists at the center of the weekend’s fatal protests in Charlottsville, Virginia. |
| “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 in a statement. | “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 in a statement. |
| “Our country’s strength stems from its diversity and the contributions made by men and women of different faiths, races, sexual orientations and political beliefs,” he said. | “Our country’s strength stems from its diversity and the contributions made by men and women of different faiths, races, sexual orientations and political beliefs,” he said. |
| Trump attacked Frazier shortly after the announcement. “Now that Ken Frazier of Merck Pharma has resigned from President’s Manufacturing Council, he will have more time to LOWER RIPOFF DRUG PRICES!” he tweeted. | |
| Now that Ken Frazier of Merck Pharma has resigned from President's Manufacturing Council,he will have more time to LOWER RIPOFF DRUG PRICES! | Now that Ken Frazier of Merck Pharma has resigned from President's Manufacturing Council,he will have more time to LOWER RIPOFF DRUG PRICES! |
| Frazier is the fourth business leader to quit Trump’s business panel. The Disney chairman Bob Iger and Tesla chief executive Elon Musk both resigned in June after the president announced he would withdraw the US from the Paris climate agreement. | |
| Trump announced the creation of his Strategic and Policy Forum last December. The aim was to create a forum for business leaders to advise the president on ways to “make it attractive for firms to create new jobs”. | |
| Uber’s CEO, Travis Kalanick, became the first executive to quit the council. In February, he announced his resignation following intense criticism from staff and customers and citing Trump’s immigration executive order – which attempted to suspend immigration from six predominantly Muslim countries – and “its issues for our community”. | |
| The remaining members on the council include Mary Barra, chief executive of General Motors; Jamie Dimon, chairman of JP Morgan; Indra Nooyi, chair and chief executive of Pepsi; Ginni Rometty, chief executive of IBM; and Steven Schwarzman, chief executive of Blackstone. |