Trump blasts Merck CEO

President Trump slammed a pharmaceutical executive for resigning from a presidential council over his disappointment with the president’s response to the violence over the weekend in Charlottesville, Va., where white supremacist groups gathered.

Trump in a Monday morning message on Twitter blasted Merck chairman and CEO Ken Frazier for leaving the president’s American Manufacturing Council. 

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

Frazier announced Monday he would resign from the council “as a matter of personal conscience” following the violence this weekend in Charlottesville, where one person died and many more were injured in clashes between the white supremacists and counterprotesters.

{mosads}”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,” he said.

“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.”

Frazier’s resignation comes as Trump faces criticism for not condemning the white supremacists in Charlottesville this weekend.

In responding to the violence in Charlottesville involving neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups, Trump condemned bigotry and hatred “on many sides” but did not specifically single out the groups.

Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers have called on him to do so.