Merck CEO Quits Trump Advisory Council After Charlottesville Violence
August 14 2017 - 9:59AM
Dow Jones News
By Peter Loftus
The head of U.S. drugmaker Merck & Co. has resigned from a
manufacturing advisory council to the Trump administration in an
apparent protest of the president's failure to condemn in stronger
terms the white supremacists who marched and waged violence in
Charlottesville, Va., over the weekend.
Merck issued a statement Monday morning on Twitter from Chairman
and Chief Executive Kenneth Frazier, saying, "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."
"As CEO of Merck and as a matter of personal conscience, I feel
a responsibility to take a stand against intolerance and
extremism," Mr. Frazier said in the statement.
A Merck spokeswoman said the company had no comment beyond Mr.
Frazier's statement.
Almost an hour later, Mr. Trump posted 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!"
Mr. Trump is facing pressure to break with white-nationalist
groups that largely supported his presidential campaign, after he
said in response to the Charlottesville events that there was a
display of hatred and violence by "many sides."
Mr. Frazier was one of 28 business and union leaders the
president named to an advisory council in January aimed at helping
him boost U.S. manufacturing jobs. It has been known variously as
the American Manufacturing Council and the Manufacturing Jobs
Initiative, and is led by Dow Chemical Co. CEO Andrew Liveris.
Mr. Frazier is the second CEO to quit advising the Trump
administration in protest. In June, Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk said
he would s top working with White House advisory groups after the
president said the U.S. would withdraw from the Paris climate
accord.
Mr. Frazier, a Merck veteran and its CEO since 2011, also has
met with Mr. Trump at the White House, including a meeting of
pharmaceutical CEOs in January when Mr. Trump told them drug prices
were too high.
Write to Peter Loftus at peter.loftus@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 14, 2017 09:44 ET (13:44 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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