Two local industry leaders were among those sitting on President Trump's economic advisory panels, which were abruptly dissolved Wednesday. Cleveland Clinic CEO Toby Cosgrove and Timken Company CEO Richard Kyle were among the members.
Kyle served on the President’s Manufacturing Council and Cosgrove on the Strategic and Policy Forum.
The president Tweeted Wednesday he’s disbanding both groups. But the Forum CEOs had agreed to disband during a conference call earlier in the day.
Members of both panels had been under public pressure to resign following President Trump’s statements blaming “many sides” for the violence in Charlottesville this past weekend.
A joint statement from the CEOs who sat on the President’s Strategic Forum said the debate over participation in the group had become “a distraction” from the economic policy initiatives they were tasked to address. According to the statement, “the President and we are disbanding the Forum.”
The statement also said racism and violence have “no place” in America – a reference to the white nationalist march that led to a counter-protester being killed. Neither Cosgrove nor Kyle issued individual statements.
