Corning CEO defects from council before Trump folds it

Add Corning CEO Wendell Weeks to the growing list of America's elite business representatives who dropped out of President Donald Trump's key advisory council just before he disbanded the group Wednesday.

The soft-spoken chief of the 166-year-old company publicly announced his resignation from Donald Trump's Manufacturing Jobs Initiative about the same time the president announced he was folding the council after a raft of high-profile defections.

"The events of the last few days have transformed the council’s laudable mission of job creation into a perception of political support for the Administration and its statements," Weeks said in a company-wide email. " This runs counter to my original intention and is inconsistent with Corning’s values. As a result I have made the decision to step down from the council."   

Weeks also told employees, "We will continue to have a zero tolerance policy toward racism, bigotry, and discrimination. And we will continue to create work environments and communities that are inclusive, because we know that diversity enriches all of us."

Pressure from the business community has been intensifying this week following Trump's widely criticized response to violence that erupted after a neo-Nazi rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, over the weekend.  

On Monday, Merck CEO Ken Frazier became the first major American chief executive to speak out against Trump's response, quitting the manufacturing council as "a matter of personal conscience."  

Frazier's decision was followed hours later by other CEOs on the council, including Intel and Under Armour. 

With the hashtag #Quitthecouncil trending, resignations continued in the last 48 hours as the chief executives of AFL-CIO, 3M, Campbell Soup and Alliance for American Manufacturing also ditched their relationships with the president. 

"Over the last few days I have been saddened and angered over events taking place in the United States," Weeks told employees. "The display of hatred and racism from the white supremacists in Charlottesville is reprehensible. The notion of white supremacy is counter to the ideals on which the United States was founded and deeply offensive to all of us who believe in equality of all people. I love my country and know that America is better than the hatred that was on display this past weekend."

Trump's initial refusal to name the specific hate groups that rallied in Charlottesville moved the other CEOs to walk away while extolling diversity and tolerance as company values.

After internal and external pressure, Trump relented and mentioned the hate groups, including neo-Nazis and KKK. But in a defiant return to form, Trump stood before reporters in the lobby of Trump Tower Tuesday and said counter-protesters were also to blame for the tragedy that left three dead and dozens hurt. 

Other CEOs who chose to stick with the councils cited the need to stay engaged with the White House to make meaningful changes. But the steady drumbeat for them to disassociate from Trump was growing daily. 

As manufacturing sector chief executives began to jump ship, none of the CEOs on Trump's economic council —  the Strategic and Policy Forum — had quit as of Wednesday morning. But they also began to receive inquiries from activists and reporters about their intentions. And as resignations began to mount and the story refused to wane, the CEOs on the policy forum began contemplating its future.  

"We believe the debate over Forum participation has become a distraction from our well-intentioned and sincere desire to aid vital policy discussions on how to improve the lives of everyday Americans," read the forum's statement that was issued through private equity firm Blackstone, whose CEO Stephen Schwarzman chairs the group. "As such, the President and we are disbanding the Forum."

The chief executives' resignations may have business motives as well, said Bill Klepper, professor of management at Columbia Business School. "I think they’re finding the cost of alignment with Trump is too high," he said. "They have a social contract to stakeholders (that says) here’s what we stand for. These are our core values. Here’s how we’re going to contribute and win as a business in society. And we’re going to do it through ethical principles."

"And lots of things Trump has been doing or not doing come close to violating the social contact," Klepper said. 

There have been questions about the councils' effectiveness from the start, and some critics dismissed them merely as photo opportunities for a president whose central campaign was about restoring jobs.

In quitting his spot, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said the manufacturing council has "yet to hold any real meeting" since it was formed.   

"There are real questions into the effectiveness of this council to deliver real policy that lifts working families,” he said. 

USA Today contributed to this report.