Update, 1:03 p.m.: CNBC says the Strategic and Policy Forum is disbanding completely—a remarkable mass vote of no-confidence in a Republican president by executives from Goldman Sachs, GM, JPMorgan, Walmart, Boeing, and other corporate American heavy hitters. Campbell’s Soup, meanwhile, has quit the Manufacturing Council.
Update, 12:50 p.m.: The New York Times is reporting that the members of Trump’s other CEO council—the Strategic and Policy Forum, whose most prominent consumer-facing members are Walmart, GM, IBM, and Pepsi—might disband their group completely
Original post, 12:17 p.m.: Donald Trump has a thing called the President’s American Manufacturing Council that mainly seems to involve bringing CEOs to the White House for photo ops during which everyone congratulates each other for being a Job Creator. Some of these CEOs, though, have recently realized they don’t necessarily want their companies, whose employees and customers probably aren’t all white assholes, affiliated with a president who is underlining his long personal history of racism by literally praising a rally during which white protesters carried torches and shouted Nazi slogans. Four corporations and two organizations have quit the council:
- Merck (whose CEO, Kenneth Frazier, is black)
- Under Armour
- Intel
- 3M
- The AFL-CIO
- The Alliance for American Manufacturing
Here are the ones that remain:
- Dow Chemical
- Harris Corporation (which specializes in space- and defense-related technology)
- Dell
- Nucor Corporation (a steel company)
- Whirlpool
- Johnson & Johnson (which released a truly remarkable statement Tuesday, which self-seriously discussed the sacred importance of “standing up for our belief[s]” and “speaking out” but didn’t criticize Trump or announce a resignation from the council)
- United Technologies (aerospace)
- Lockheed Martin (defense)
- GE
- Dana Inc. (an automotive technology manufacturer that is actually based in Maumee, Ohio, the hometown of James Fields Jr., the white supremacist who is believed to have run over and killed Heather Heyer in Charlottesville, Virginia)
- The Timken Company (auto parts)
- Campbell’s Soup (which is taking a disproportionate amount of heat online for remaining on the council, mainly because it’s funny/surreal that a soup company is effectively condoning white supremacists)
- Boeing
- Caterpillar
- Newell Brands (which markets a variety of consumer products)
- International Paper
- Corning (glass and other materials-technology-type-stuff)
If you’re itching for a boycott, here are some of the things those companies sell:
- Dell computers
- Whirlpool hot tubs
- GE lightbulbs, refrigerators, dishwashers, ovens, and other appliances
- Band-Aids, Tylenol, Benadryl, Listerine, Johnson’s baby shampoo, Aveeno products, Neutragena products (all sold by Johnson & Johnson)
- Newell Brands products such as Rubbermaid containers, Sharpies, Elmer’s Glue, Graco strollers and car seats, Mr. Coffee coffeemakers, Oster blenders, and more
- Napalm (just kidding, Dow Chemical stopped making napalm in 1969)
- Lockheed Martin tanks, helicopters, etc.
- Campbell’s Soup … soups
In summary, for Americans who don’t love Hitler, it may be time to switch to Progresso even though their tomato soup isn’t as good.
