Trump's Fed pick Stephen Moore "withdraws" from consideration

In the face of significant pressure and backlash, Stephen Moore, Donald Trump’s most recent choice for a seat on the Federal Reserve Board, “withdrew” from consideration on Thursday.

President Trump announced via tweet that he would not nominate Moore, a conservative firebrand and Trump loyalist, for a seat on the Fed, marking the second time in recent weeks that one of Trump’s Fed nominees was torpedoed.

After Moore, a long-time conservative economist and pundit, was nominated, his long paper trail of both personal and financial misbehavior came to light: He failed to pay more than $300,000 in child support and alimony to his former wife, he had a lien placed on his home by the IRS after failing to pay $75,000 in back taxes, and most damagingly, he had previously written a series of articles disparaging women.

Moore said that men needed to be the breadwinners, denigrated female athletes, and even made racist jokes about former President Barack Obama.

Moore apologized for some of his statements, but labeled the backlash against him as a “smear campaign.”

As the torrent of negative headlines surrounding Moore’s attitudes towards women grew, Republican lawmakers made clear to the White House that Moore’s nomination was dead in the water and that he would not gain enough votes to clear the Republican-controlled Senate.

While Moore technically “withdrew” via a letter to the White House, Moore spent Thursday morning on the press circuit, saying he would not withdraw and had the support of the White House.

Until of course, he didn’t.

While Moore’s sexist comments ultimately killed his nomination, his economic ideas didn’t help him either.

Virginia’s own U.S. Rep. Jennifer Wexton (VA-10) was an outspoken critic of Moore’s and helped draw some attention to some of Moore’s outlandish economic views via her questions during a recent House Financial Services Committee hearing.

Moore is Trump’s second Fed pick in as many months to withdraw over concerns about his views and behavior towards women. Herman Cain, the former pizza mogul and presidential candidate, was forced to bow out of consideration after well-documented accusations of sexual harassment resurfaced.

It remains to be seen who Trump nominates for the two remaining Fed seats.

© Photo: Rafael Saldaña