As fallout from President Trump's soft-on-Nazis response to the Charlottesville white supremacist rally continues, the Cleveland Clinic and the American Cancer Society have announced that they are cancelling their planned events at his Florida club, Mar-A-Lago.
"After careful consideration, Cleveland Clinic has decided that it will not hold a Florida fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago in 2018," a statement from the hospital giant, reported by the
Cleveland Plain Dealer, declared, adding that, "we thank the staff of Mar-a-Lago for their service over the years."
The clinic had held fundraisers at the club for almost eight years,
according to CNN Money.
This came on the heels the president's remarks about the Charlottesville, Virginia, protests, which turned violent, and deadly, when a car rammed counter-protesters, caused many injuries and the death of a 32-year-old woman, Heather Heyer.
In his statements to reporters Tuesday, Trump claimed that there existed some equivalency between white supremacists and those protesting their rally, emphasizing that there is “blame on both sides."
He further suggested that there are "some very fine people on both sides."
On Friday, Heyer's mother, Susan Bro said on ABC's "
Good Morning America," "I'm not talking to the president now," adding, "I'm sorry. After what he said about my child, and it's not that I saw somebody else's tweets about him. I saw an actual clip of him at a press conference equating the protesters like Ms. [Heather] Heyer with the KKK and the white supremacists."
"You can’t wash this one away by shaking my hand and saying, ‘I’m sorry.’ I’m not forgiving for that," she went on.
At issue for alt-right protesters are monuments honoring members of the failed Confederate rebellion, such as Robert E. Lee, who led armies against the U.S. in the support of slavery during the American Civil War.
The Cleveland Clinic's decision also followed CEO Toby Cosgrove's move, along with other top U.S. executives on Wednesday, to close down the business advisory council reporting to Trump, over his Charlottesville comments.
The clinic's decision was followed shortly thereafter by a similar announcement by the American Cancer Society, which had run yearly events at the venue for almost a decade, according to CNN Money.
The ACS refused to comment about the reasons behind its decision to the Washington Examiner,
stating only that, “when we chose to hold our 2018 event and related dinner at Mar-a-Lago, we selected the venue based on a variety of factors, including costs and venue requirements," and adding that, "our values and commitment to diversity are critical as we work to address the impact of cancer in every community. It has become increasingly clear that the challenge to those values is outweighing other business considerations."
These organizations were not alone in the health care sector, in expressing outrage over the president's response to Charlottesville.
On August 14 via Twitter, Kaiser Permanente CEO Bernard Tyson said, “the president should consistently demonstrate zero tolerance for white supremacy, neo-Nazi groups. We must be unwavering.”
Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini went further, in a memo
reported by CNBC.
He stated, "I strongly agree with the remarks of former Presidents George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush who stated: 'America must always reject racial bigotry, anti-Semitism, and hatred of all forms.'"
He also expressed support for others who voiced similar concerns, "I am pleased that many other political leaders from both parties have expressed similarly strong statements – and I am ashamed of our president's behavior and comments."
Bertolini added that, "We all breathe the same air, we all want the same thing for our children's future, and we all aspire for the pursuit of happiness and good health for our families and friends. We are not a country of hate, and we are all judged by our own God based on the compassion and humanity we show others.
"I hope that each of us takes time to discuss with our family and friends the responsibility we all share, every day, to live up to the values that have made our nation so great – those of tolerance and respect for others. We are a great nation because of our diversity which fosters sharing of ideas and experiences. Our country is not perfect, but it is more tolerant than any other nation I know. We can only remain great if we remain intolerant of hate."
And Anthem's CEO Joseph Swedish, send his employees a memo that “condemned” the “bigotry, hatred and racism on display in Charlottesville last weekend."