More business executives have bowed out of Donald Trump’s camp.
Kevin Plank, CEO of sportswear company Under Armour, and Brian Krzanich, CEO of chipmaker Intel, have each stepped down from their positions on the US president’s manufacturing council. Both cited Trump’s belated disavowal of the white-nationalist, pro-Trump demonstrators at the violent rallies in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Plank broke the news through Under Armour’s Twitter account.
An earlier tweet from Plank condemning the racists in Charlottesville caused many of his followers to demand he step down from the council.
Plank’s resignation comes despite his earlier outspoken support for Trump. In February, the CEO told CNBC he expected Trump would be “a real asset to this country,” adding, “He wants to build things. He wants to make bold decisions and be really decisive.”
Soon after Plank announced his resignation, Krzanich did the same, also through Twitter and with a public statement.
Krzanich wrote on Intel’s company blog:
“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. I resigned because I want to make progress, while many in Washington seem more concerned with attacking anyone who disagrees with them.”
Krzanich, like Plank, had expressed some admiration for Trump in the past. Last year the New York Times discovered he had planned a fundraiser for the then-presidential hopeful, though he canceled it abruptly.
Before Plank and Krzanich’s resignation, Kenneth Frazier, CEO of pharmaceutical company Merck, also resigned from the council. Frazier, an African-American, had been the only member who isn’t white.
In June, Disney CEO Robert Iger and Tesla founder Elon Musk both resigned from their positions on Trump’s advisory councils after his withdrawal from the Paris agreement. Before that, former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick stepped down from his position on Trump’s economic advisory council after Trump announced the so-called “travel ban.”
Elsewhere, Twitter users are demanding the CEOs who remain on Trump’s manufacturing councils resign from their positions as well. Among them are Michael Dell of Dell, Denise Morrison of Campbell Soup, and Jeff Fettig of Whirlpool.