Trump faces renewed pressure over Virginia violence

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - 14 July 2017: U.S. President Donald Trump faced renewed pressure on Monday to respond more forcefully to a violent white-nationalist rally in Virginia, after drawing a storm of criticism when he avoided explicit condemnation of far-right groups.

In a strong rebuke to the president, the chief executive of one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies resigned from a business panel led by Trump. Merck & Co Inc CEO Kenneth Frazier cited a need for leadership countering bigotry.

The Republican president has been assailed by Republicans and Democrats alike over his handling of Saturday's violence in Charlottesville, in which a woman was killed when a man drove his car into a group of counter-protesters.

Trump was meeting top law enforcement officials at the White House on Monday to discuss the issue. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said he expected the president would address the incident again later in the day.

Critics said Trump waited too long to address the violence, and slammed him for stating when he did that "many sides" were involved, rather than explicitly condemning white-supremacist marchers widely seen as sparking the melee.

A 20-year-old man said to have harbored Nazi sympathies as a teenager was facing charges he plowed his car into protesters opposing the white nationalists, killing Heather Heyer and injuring 19 people. The accused, James Alex Fields, was denied bail at an initial court hearing on Monday.

Merck's Frazier, who is black, did not name Trump or criticize him directly in a statement posted on the drug company's Twitter account, but the rebuke was implicit.

"America's leaders must honor our fundamental values by clearly rejecting expressions of hatred, bigotry and group supremacy," said Frazier.

Trump immediately hit back, but made no reference to Frazier's comments on values, instead revisiting a longstanding gripe about expensive medicines. Now he had left the panel, Frazier would have more time to focus on lowering "ripoff" drug prices, Trump said in a Twitter post.