Intel (INTC) CEO Brian Krzanich announced his resignation from President Donald Trump’s manufacturing council late Monday, saying that promoting American manufacturing “should not be a political issue.”
Krzanich is the third member of the council to resign in the last day amid backlash against the President for his response to violence in Charlottesville, Va. Ken Frazier, the CEO of pharma giant Merck (MRK), and Under Armour (UAA) CEO Kevin Plank both announced Monday that they were leaving the council.
“I resigned to call attention to the serious harm our divided political climate is causing to critical issues, including the serious need to address the decline of American manufacturing. Politics and political agendas have sidelined the important mission of rebuilding America’s manufacturing base,” Krzanich said in a blog post on the company’s website.
“I have already made clear my abhorrence at the recent hate-spawned violence in Charlottesville, and earlier today I called on all leaders to condemn the white supremacists and their ilk who marched and committed violence,” he continued. “I resigned because I want to make progress, while many in Washington seem more concerned with attacking anyone who disagrees with them. We should honor–not attack–those who have stood up for equality and other cherished American values. I hope this will change, and I remain willing to serve when it does.”
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Trump has come under fire for being slow to condemn white nationalists and neo-Nazis by name after they clashed with protesters in Charlottesville over the weekend. Two days after saying that “many sides” were to blame for the violence, the President on Monday 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.”
Krzanich expressed frustration with political point scoring in Washington, saying that “it is clear even to me that nearly every issue is now politicized to the point where significant progress is impossible.”
“The current environment must change, or else our nation will become a shadow of what it once was and what it still can and should be,” he said.
