Merck's CEO quits Trump's council over Charlottesville, the president claps back

Roger Yu and Herb Jackson | USA TODAY and USA TODAY NETWORK

Show Caption Hide Caption Merck's CEO quits manufacturing council over Charlottesville response President Trump has lost the only African American CEO on his manufacturing council for his comments on Charlottesville.

Merck CEO Ken Frazier quit President Trump's manufacturing jobs council on Monday, following the president's widely criticized response to violence that erupted after a neo-Nazi rally in Charlottesville over the weekend.

The resignation prompted an angry response from Trump 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 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! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 14, 2017

"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," Frazier tweeted.

"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."

One of the world's largest pharmaceutical manufacturers, Merck develops and makes a wide variety of vaccines and drugs, including allergy medicine Clarinex and cholesterol treatments Zocor and Vytorin.

Merck declined to comment on Trump's response tweet regarding lowering drug prices. U.S. Prices for the most popular brand-name drugs in the U.S. have risen 208% from 2008 to 2016, according to AARP. In January, Merck issued its own pricing report that showed seven years of price hikes. Prices for its drugs rose on average 9% since 2010, it said.

Watch President Trump's statement on Charlottesville violence President Donald Trump said Saturday there was "no place" in the United States for the kind of violence that broke out at a white nationalist rally in Virginia and appealed to Americans to "come together as one." (Aug. 12)

This isn't the first time Trump has clashed this year with high-profile CEOs over his handling of policy matters. In June, Disney CEO Robert Iger and Tesla CEO Elon Musk quit another White House business advisory council over Trump's decision to withdraw the U.S. from a global climate-change treaty, called the Paris Agreement.

In February, former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick also quit advising Trump on business matters over the president’s proposal to ban travel from seven Muslim countries.

Trump came under fire over the weekend for his refusal to specifically denounce neo-Nazis, KKK and other racist groups after their rally in Charlottesville resulted in at least three people killed and dozens more hurt.

Trump's statement over the weekend that condemned, "this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides, many sides" was considered inadequate by numerous lawmakers -- including some Republicans. Some of Trump's political opponents called it a "dog whistle" to far-right and extremist supporters.

"We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides, on many sides," Trump said over the weekend, prompting his critics to wonder if he was implicitly criticizing the counter-protesters in Charlottesville.

After repeated calls for a more forceful response, Trump finally addressed reporters in the White House on Monday afternoon and said "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," Trump said before leaving the lectern without taking questions.

He also announced that the Department of Justice has launched a civil rights investigation over a car attack in Charlottesville Saturday that killed Heather Heyer, 32, and injured 19 others. James Alex Fields Jr., 20, who allegedly drove the car, was denied bail Monday.

We ALL must be united & condemn all that hate stands for. There is no place for this kind of violence in America. Lets come together as one! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 12, 2017

Frazier, who in the past has donated to both Republicans and Democrats, sat beside Trump in late January when the president had a roundtable discussion with pharmaceutical company executives.

Trump urged the companies to lower their prices, but he also promised they would benefit from relaxed federal regulations, better trade deals and tax reform. He stopped short of repeating a campaign promise to have Medicare negotiate for drug discounts with manufacturers.

Frazier also represented Merck at a White House event in July where his company and Pfizer announced an agreement with Corning to develop a new generation of stronger glass vials and an investment in manufacturing jobs.

Frazier declined to comment further. The Harvard-trained lawyer took over the job in 2010 after he spent years working up the corporate ladder, including stints as general counsel and head of its global human health business.

Most of the companies, which include Corning, Under Armour, Boeing and Caterpillar, whose CEOs are on the manufacturing council, declined to comment.

But AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said the president’s manufacturing council hasn’t held “any real meeting” and the labor union group is “assessing our role.”

“The AFL-CIO has unequivocally denounced the actions of bigoted domestic terrorists in Charlottesville and called on the president to do the same,” Trumka said. “There are real questions into the effectiveness of this council to deliver real policy that lifts working families.”

GE, whose former CEO and current board chairman Jeff Immelt is a member of the manufacturing council, said Immelt plans to remain on the council while he's still board chairman. He will step down as the company's board chairman at the end of the year.

"GE has no tolerance for hate, bigotry or racism, and we strongly condemn the violent extremism in Charlottesville over the weekend," the company said in a statement. "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."

In a statement, computer-maker Dell Technologies, whose CEO Michael Dell is a council member, said there was no change "in Dell engaging with the Trump administration and governments around the world to share our perspective on policy issues that affect our company, our customers and our employees."

The Dow Chemical Company and Campbell Soup also confirmed that their CEOs will remain on the council but condemned expressions of racism.

Contributing: Kellie Ell