Trump strongly condemns CEO who quit White House council over Trump's failure to strongly condemn Nazis

President Trump and CEO of Merck Ken Frazier.

(Image credit: SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)

published 14 August 2017

Merck pharmaceutical company CEO Kenneth Frazier resigned from President Trump's American Manufacturing Council on Monday, over concerns about the administration's subdued response to violent white supremacist demonstrations in Charlottesville, Virginia, over the weekend.

That, of course, prompted a furious response from Trump:

Frazier, who is the first African-American president of Merck, said earlier Monday that "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."

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.