CEOs who are leaving President Donald Trump's American Manufacturing Council in the wake of his initial statement on Charlottesville are making their own individual choices, but they are squandering an important opportunity, Rep. Tom Reed, R-N.Y., said Tuesday.
"If you've going to influence the agenda, you have to be at the table, talking in the room, and pitching your vision as to how you want to go forward," Reed told CNN. "Obviously, they chose to leave that table. From my perspective, they've lost an opportunity to influence the agenda."
Merck CEO Ken Frazier was first to leave the council, drawing the ire of Trump, who almost immediately attacked him on Twitter over the pharmaceutical company and rising prices for medications.
Monday night, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich and Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank also stepped down, and Tuesday, Scott Paul, the president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, resigned, tweeting he was stepping down because it is the "right thing for me to do."
Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, had already left the council earlier this year, quitting in protest after Trump's announcement the United States was pulling out of the Paris climate agreement.
Trump Tuesday afternoon tweeted an attack on people who have dropped out of his council, calling them "grandstanders":
Reed told CNN he thinks CEOs leaving the council are making a mistake, even if he does understand their reasoning.
"You can protest or you can be part of the effort to change the culture," Reed said. "That's what I try to do."
Reed also addressed Trump's dwindling poll numbers, pointing out the numbers are different across the country, and there are still pockets of support for the president.
"The polls that matter are when people go to the voting booth," he said. "What we've seen happen over the years is polls can be wrong at times, and we'll see how this changes as we go forward."
Trump still offers a "great opportunity" to disrupt Washington, D.C., and he does need to remember to always put the American people first, which he is doing, Reed said.
"He's working for the American people to have a job and get back to work and control their own destiny," Reed said. "I think those poll numbers will be a footnote of history."