Trump Disbands 2 White House Business Councils Amid CEO Dropouts
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WASHINGTON (CBSMiami/AP) -- President Donald Trump has disbanded two White House business councils amid criticism from CEOs for remarks on the violent Charlottesville protest.
Earlier Wednesday, the CEO of Campbell Soup resigned from the jobs panel over perceived comments about racism made by President Trump.
Campbell CEO Denise Morrison said in a company release Wednesday, "Racism and murder are unequivocally reprehensible and are not morally equivalent to anything else that happened in Charlottesville. I believe the President should have been -- and still needs to be -- unambiguous on that point."
Trump suggested in remarks Tuesday that the white supremacists and counter-protesters both blameworthy for violence that erupted this weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Now with corporate chieftains fleeing -- Morrison is the seventh person to resign -- President Trump announced Wednesday he is ending the pair of advisory business councils.
"Rather than putting pressure on the business people of the Manufacturing Council & Strategy & Policy Forum, I am ending both. Thank you all!" Trump tweeted in a face-saving effort from his home at Trump Tower. He was to depart New York later Wednesday to return to his New Jersey golf club.
CEOs began announcing their resignations after Trump's first comments about the violence Saturday in Charlottesville, Virginia. The resignations accelerated after he re-emphasized his earlier remarks and on Tuesday blamed "both sides" for the series of events that led to the death of a 32-year-old Charlottesville woman.
Standing in the lobby of Trump Tower on Tuesday, Trump acknowledged that there were "some very bad people" among those who gathered to protest Saturday. But he added: "You also had people that were very fine people, on both sides."
Trump's remarks were widely criticized in Washington and around the country.
Morrison said the president's comments triggered her resignation from the manufacturing jobs panel.
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