Sign in

US president Trump hit by fresh resignation as science envoy quits State dept

Daniel Kammen, who served as a state department envoy since 1996, said Trump had “harmed the quality of life in the United States” as he resigned from he post.

Published on: Aug 23, 2017, 23:38:36 IST
Agence France-Presse, Washington | By
Share
Share via
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • linkedin
  • whatsapp
Copy link
  • copy link

A US government science envoy on Wednesday became the latest official to resign over Donald Trump’s refusal to condemn neo-Nazis and the latest to send a coded message of defiance via his resignation letter.

US President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Phoenix, Arizona, on August 22, 2017. (Reuters Photo)
US President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Phoenix, Arizona, on August 22, 2017. (Reuters Photo)

Daniel Kammen, who served as a state department envoy since 1996, said Trump had “harmed the quality of life in the United States, our standing abroad, and the sustainability of the planet”.

But apparently it was Trump’s equivocation about white supremacists’ who lead a deadly march in Charlottesville, Virginia that was the final straw.

“My decision to resign is in response to your attacks on the core values of the United States. Your failure to condemn white supremacists and neo-Nazis has domestic and international ramifications,” Kammen wrote.

But within the one page letter was a less obvious message – an acrostic, with the first letter of each paragraph spelling “IMPEACH”.

Kammen is the latest in a series of officials and panelists to resign their posts – from members of the arts to business leaders – and is not the first to deliver a hidden message in doing so.

When the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities resigned en masse last week, the first letter of each paragraph of their letter spelled out “RESIST” – a watchword for opponents of the Trump administration.

Get the latest World News, breaking headlines and global updates from the US, UK, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Russia and other countries. Follow major international events on Hindustan Times.