The chairman and chief executive officer of Farmington, Connecticut-based United Technologies, announced Wednesday that he has resigned from President Donald Trump’s American Manufacturing Council. His announcement comes amid mass defections and around the time the president announced he is disbanding the advisory panel.
Greg Hayes said in a statement that UTC strongly supports the goals of presidential advisory committees like the one he was called to serve on, but he is resigning, effective today.
“However, as the events of the last week have unfolded here in the U.S., it is clear that we need to collectively stand together and denounce the politics of hate, intolerance and racism. The values that are the cornerstone of our culture: tolerance, diversity, empathy and trust, must be reaffirmed by our actions every day,” Hayes said in his statement. “Accordingly, I have tendered my resignation from the Council effective today.”
The defections came after his response to white supremacist violence in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Trump had tweeted Tuesday that, "For every CEO that drops out of the Manufacturing Council, I have many to take their place. Grandstanders should not have gone on."
Then on Wednesday afternoon, Trump announced on Twitter that he is putting an end to the manufacturing council and strategy and policy forum.
