Donald Trump takes two days to condemn Charlottesville racists, 54 minutes to slam Merck CEO
TWO more CEOs have quit a White House advisory council after Donald Trump’s controversial response to a deadly white supremacist rally.
TWO more CEOs have quit a White House advisory council after Donald Trump’s controversial response to a deadly white supremacist rally.
Earlier the US President was quick to respond to news that Merck & Co Inc chief executive Kenneth Frazier would resign from Mr Trump’s American Manufacturing Council, in sharp contrast to the time it took him to condemn white supremacists.
The CEO of the top pharmaceutical company claimed he was taking a stand against intolerance and extremism in the wake of the Charlottesville tragedy, which left one woman dead and 19 injured.
Others soon followed his lead, with Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank and Intel CEO Brian Krzanich also stepping down.
“We remain resolute in our potential and ability to improve American manufacturing,” Mr Plank said in a statement. “However, Under Armour engages in innovation and sports, not politics.”
The move after Mr Frazier, an African-America, posted a statement to Twitter resigning his position, it said: “America’s leaders must honour our fundamental views by clearly rejecting expressions of hatred, bigotry and group supremacy, which run counter to the American ideal that all people are created equal.”
— Merck (@Merck) August 14, 2017
It took the President less than an hour to respond to Mr Frazier, one of the few African-Americans to head a Fortune 500 company.
In comparison, it took Mr Trump two days before he directly called out the white supremacists and nationalists behind the Charlottesville attack.
Mr Trump lashed out on Twitter posting that Mr Frazier will now “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!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 14, 2017
But he didn’t stop there and attacked the company again just hours later.
.@Merck Pharma is a leader in higher & higher drug prices while at the same time taking jobs out of the U.S. Bring jobs back & LOWER PRICES!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 14, 2017
But this isn’t entirely correct and as the New York Timespoints out Mr Frazier and Mr Trump announced an agreement among drug makers that would create 1000 jobs just last month.
Pharmaceutical companies have come under withering criticism for soaring prices in the US, including by Mr Trump, who has yet to act on a promise to contain them.
Mr Trump has also attacked an industry executive who has tried to make drug pricing more transparent by revealing his company’s overall drug price changes, the Associated Press reported.
While it isn’t unusual for Mr Trump to respond to his critics, US media pointed out a problem with Mr Trump’s reaction to Mr Frazier’s resignation.
“Within minutes on Monday, Mr Trump, in far less time that it took him to react to the violence in Charlottesville, was on Twitter criticising Mr Frazier,” Andrew Ross Sorkin writes in the New York Times.
AP writer Julie Pace wrote Mr Trump’s struggle in responding to the Charlottesville violence seems to fit a pattern of uncharacteristic caution when it comes to handling racial tensions and condemning the fringe groups that have rallied around his candidacy.
‘JUST 54 MINUTES’
The news of Mr Frazier’s resignation lit up social media, with many people applauding Mr Frazier and blasting the president.
Unilever CEO Paul Polman praised Mr Frazier, commending him for his strong leadership.
Thanks @Merck Ken Frazier for strong leadership to stand up for the moral values that made this country what it is pic.twitter.com/ckabeobZBL
— Paul Polman (@PaulPolman) August 14, 2017
But it was Keith Boykin, a former aide to President Bill Clinton and politics and race commentator for CNN, who summed up Mr Trump’s response the best.
It took Trump 54 minutes to condemn Merck CEO Ken Frazier, but after several days he still has not condemned murdering white supremacists. https://t.co/ps9AVUTTH7
— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) August 14, 2017
Others were quick to highlight the same point.
The statement from Merck's CEO came out at 8:00AM. It took Trump 54 minutes to denounce him. https://t.co/JcXrvTiBQo
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) August 14, 2017
Notice that Trump's ego being bruised,when Merck CEO Ken Frazier quit manufacture council over the delay, got an instant unscripted response
— BowlingGreenMassacre (@BGMfoil) August 14, 2017
He sure as hell has a quick response for Frazier but is slow to condemn white supremacy. #whatsides https://t.co/QT2EFqcpLL
— Monica Pelayo Lock (@mrpelayo) August 14, 2017
SLOW RESPONSE
Mr Trump was criticised over the weekend for failing to explicitly denounce the Neo-Nazis and Ku Klux Klan members whose rally in Charlottesville, Virginia set off violent clashes which left one person dead.
While Mr Trump condemned the violence in the aftermath of the tragedy he faced pressure to call out the crime out for what it was.
It wasn’t until two days later than Mr Trump made such a statement, televised from the White House.
“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,” he said.
Mr Trump’s initial response was widely slammed particularly over his referring to “hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides”.
Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe declared a state of emergency in Charlottesville just before noon after violence broke out between white nationalists and counterprotesters on Saturday.
Mr Trump responded over an hour later, condemning the hate in a tweet.
Later than afternoon Mr Trump made a follow up statement from New Jersey when he said: “We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides. On many sides. It’s been going on for a long time in our country. Not Donald Trump, not Barack Obama, this has been going on for a long, long time.”
The White House released a statement the following day attributed to a White House spokeswoman and not the President himself.
“The President said very strongly in his statement yesterday that he condemns all forms of violence, bigotry and hatred, and of course that includes white supremacists, KKK, neo-Nazi and all extremist groups. He called for national unity and bringing all Americans together,” the statement read.
It wasn’t until 12.40pm Monday (US time) almost two days later, that the President finally called out those responsible.
— with AP
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