Pressure on CEOs Rises as Fourth Trump Job Council Member Resigns

“I’m resigning from the Manufacturing Jobs Initiative because it’s the right thing for me to do,” Scott Paul writes

Scott Paul
Twitter

Alliance for American Manufacturing president Scott Paul has become the fourth business leader to quit President Trump’s council on manufacturing jobs. He did so on Tuesday in wake of the president’s criticized response to the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, over the weekend.

“I’m resigning from the Manufacturing Jobs Initiative because it’s the right thing for me to do,” Paul wrote on Twitter.

Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich and Merck CEO Ken Frazier also resigned on Monday.

Trump took to Twitter, calling the CEOS dropping out “grandstanders” who will be replaced:

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/897478270442143744

Plank, Krzanich and Frazier stepped away from the White House because Trump failed to immediately condemn white supremacists in his initial response to the weekend’s chaos that left one woman dead. Scott did not immediately explain why he feels leaving the council is the “right thing” to do.

On Monday, Frazier wrote on Twitter that: “America’s leaders must honor 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.”

Groups of white nationalists descended on Charlottesville over the weekend to protest the planned removal of a statue of Confederate general Robert E. Lee, and were met by counter-protesters, leading to violence that began Friday night.

Unrest intensified on Saturday, as a vehicle plowed into a group of counter-protesters at a white nationalist rally, killing Heather Heyer, a 32-year-old paralegal from Virginia, and injuring 19 others. More than 30 were hurt in total as a result of events at the rally.

The council’s remaining members include Dow Chemical CEO Andrew Liveris, Harris CEO Bill Brown, Dell CEO Michael Dell, Johnson & Jonson CEO Akex Gorsky, GE CEO Jeff Immelt, Campbell Soup CEODenise Morrison, Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg, Caperpillar CEO Doug Oberhelman and Corning CEO Wendell Weeks.

Boeing spokesman John Dern told Chicago Business that Muilenberg would continue to serve on the council because “staying engaged with business leaders and policy makers on the council is important to make progress on issues important to our company and the country.”

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