Campbell’s Soup CEO Denise Morrison is facing backlash for remaining on President Donald Trump’s advisory board in the aftermath of his controversial comments on the violence at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. NBC10’s Lauren Mayk has the details.
The CEO of Campbell's Soup will remain on an advisory board to President Donald Trump in the aftermath of high-profile defections by fellow executives and labor leaders.
Those who quit, including North Philadelphia native Kenneth Frazier, the president and chief executive of pharmaceutical giant Merck, left the White House's American Manufacturing Council in protest of what they perceived as a tepid response by Trump to the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia.
The fourth and latest resignation is Scott Paul, the president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing. The labor leader left the council Tuesday morning.
"I'm resigning from the Manufacturing Jobs Initiative because it's the right thing for me to do," Paul said in a tweet.
Campbell's Soup CEO Denise Morrison will not resign, the Camden, New Jersey-based company said in a statement Monday.
"We believe it continues to be important for Campbell to have a voice and provide input on matters that will affect our industry, our company and our employees in support of growth," the company statement posted to its website reads.
Trump, who initially called out Frazier for resigning by questioning Merck's pricing tactics, again went on the offensive Tuesday on Twitter.
Campbell did condemn the violence in Virginia that erupted Saturday during a rally by white nationalists over a proposal to remove a statue of Confederate Army General Robert E. Lee. White supremacist groups, neo-Nazis and the KKK joined the nationalists, and the groups eventually clashed with counter-protesters.
One counter-protester was killed and numerous others were injured when a man associated with the rally allegedly blowed into a crowd with a car.
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"The reprehensible scenes of bigotry and hatred on display in Charlottesville over the weekend have no place in our society," the Campbell statement reads. "Not simply because of the violence, but because the racist ideology at the center of the protests is wrong and must be condemned in no uncertain terms. Campbell has long held the belief that diversity and inclusion are critical to the success of our business and our culture. Our commitment to diversity and inclusion is unwavering, and we will remain active champions for these efforts."
A request for further comment was left with the company. NBC10 has also requested an interview with Morrison, a New Jersey native and Princeton resident.
Twenty-five CEOs and other leaders of American manufacturing remain on the Trump advisory council after the resignations of Frazier, Under Armour CEO Kevin Planck and Intel CEO Brian Krzanich. Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, previously resigned from the council after Trump pulled the United States out of the Paris Climate Agreement.
Here are the remaining members of the council:
Andrew Liveris, The Dow Chemical Company
Bill Brown, Harris Corporation
Michael Dell, Dell Technologies
John Ferriola, Nucor Corporation
Jeff Fettig, Whirlpool Corporation
Mark Fields, Ford Motor Company
Alex Gorsky, Johnson & Johnson
Greg Hayes, United Technologies Corp.
Marilynn Hewson, Lockheed Martin Corporation
Jeff Immelt, General Electric
Jim Kamsickas, Dana Inc.
Klaus Kleinfeld, Arconic
Rich Kyle, The Timken Company
Thea Lee, AFL-CIO
Mario Longhi, U.S. Steel
Denise Morrison, Campbell Soup Company
Dennis Muilenburg, Boeing
Doug Oberhelman, Caterpillar
Michael Polk, Newell Brands
Mark Sutton, International Paper
Inge Thulin, 3M
Richard Tumka, AFL-CIO
Wendell Weeks, Corning
