Merck And Under Armour CEOs Resign From Trump's American Manufacturing Council

(RTTNews) - The chief executives of Merck & Co Inc (MRK) and Under Armour Inc resigned from U.S. President Donald Trump's American Manufacturing Council on Monday in the wake of Trump's heavily-criticized response to this weekend's violence at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va.

Under Armour Inc. UA, CEO Kevin Plank announced that he was leaving the council. While not explicitly mentioning the events in Charlottesville, Plank stressed the importance of "unity, diversity and inclusion."

"Under Armour engages in innovation and sports, not politics," Plank said in a statement. "I love our country and our company and will continue to focus my efforts on inspiring every person that they can do anything through the power of sport which promotes unity, diversity and inclusion."

Earlier in the day, Merck & Co. CEO Kenneth Frazier quit "as a matter of personal conscience" and as a stand "against intolerance and extremism" after Trump waited two days to specifically condemn white supremacy.

Trump later attacked Plank and Merck in a pair of tweets, saying now "he will have more time to LOWER RIPOFF DRUG PRICES!"