GOP senator ‘not enthused’ by Trump Fed nominee’s past writings: ‘I think it’s ridiculous’

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) said Monday she is “not enthused” by a series of controversial past comments from Stephen Moore, President Trump’s nominee for a vacant seat on the Federal Reserve Board.

“I’m not enthused about what he has said in various articles,” Ernst, who is up for reelection next year, told The Washington Post’s Seung Min Kim. “I think it’s ridiculous.”

.@SenJoniErnst tells me what she thinks about Stephen Moore for the Fed: “I’m not enthused about what he has said in various articles. I think it’s ridiculous.”

— Seung Min Kim (@seungminkim) April 29, 2019 

Moore’s past writings, along with his qualifications for the position, have been a source of controversy since his nomination was announced.

{mosads}“In fact, you know, the male needs to be the breadwinner of the family,” he reportedly said on C-SPAN in 2000. “One of the reasons you’ve seen the decline of the family — not just in the black community, but also it’s happening now in the white community as well — is because women are more economically self-sufficient.”

Ernst echoed her comments later to a group of reporters on the Hill, saying that she is “not really enthused” by Moore’s nomination overall.

In a series of columns for National Review in the early 2000s, Moore called on women to be banned from any role in men’s college basketball, writing in 2002, “No more women refs, no women announcers, no women beer vendors, no women anything.”

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said last week that the White House is “reviewing those comments.”

Moore has accused his critics of “trying to pull a Kavanaugh” in reference to the fight during then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings over allegations of sexual assault.

Another potential Federal Reserve nominee, Herman Cain, withdrew himself from consideration earlier this month after enough Republican senators said they would vote against his nomination. Cain told The Wall Street Journal he withdrew himself due to the pay cut associated with the position.

— Updated at 6:28 p.m.