Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank quit President Donald Trump’s American Manufacturing Council late Monday, the second business leader to depart the council after the violence in Charlottesville.
“We remain resolute in our potential and ability to improve American manufacturing,” Plank said in a statement posted on the company’s Twitter account. “However, Under Armour engages in innovation and sports, not politics.”
“I am appreciative of the opportunity to have served, but have decided to step down from the council,” Plank said. “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.”
I love our country & company. I am stepping down from the council to focus on inspiring & uniting through power of sport. – CEO Kevin Plank pic.twitter.com/8YvndJMjj1
— Under Armour (@UnderArmour) August 15, 2017
In leaving the council, Plank follows Merck Pharmaceutical CEO Ken Frazier, who announced Monday he would leave the council and “take a stand against intolerance and extremism.”
Frazier’s departure comes after Trump didn’t specifically condemn white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups in the immediate aftermath of the violence and death in Charlottesville Saturday.
“America’s leaders must honor our fundamental values by clearly rejecting expressions of hatred, bigotry and group supremacy, which run counter to the American ideal that all people are created equal,” Frazier said.
Plank praised Trump’s pro-business mentality and support of manufacturing as “a real asset to this country” in February, but many of his athlete clients pilloried him for siding with the divisive Republican president.
“It was unfortunate that my words got characterized in a way that were meant to be divisive in some way, shape, or form,” Plank said in June to Willie Geist on NBC’s Sunday Today Show.
“In today’s day and age … you’re not allowed to give a basic answer where you can try and say, ‘I’m going to try to hit this one right down the middle, and everybody will be happy,’” Plank said. “The fact is that there’s no room for that. People want to know where you stand and what issues you stand for.”
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