Economist Stephen Moore said on May 6 that he withdrew from consideration for the Federal Reserve because his voluminous controversial comments over the years would make him an easy target for Senate Democrats.
“I withdrew because it was going to be death by a thousand cuts,” Moore told The Epoch Times. “I have a 2000-page paper trail and 500 speeches. I’ve given hundreds and hundreds of media appearances and it was just too easy. I was too easy a target for the left to pick out things that I had said.”
President Donald Trump announced on May 2 that Moore had withdrawn his confirmation. At the time of the withdrawal, none of the Republican senators explicitly opposed his nomination, but a handful expressed concern. Less than two weeks prior to Moore’s withdrawal, Herman Cain, another Trump loyalist, also withdrew from consideration.
Moore said he was surprised by the opposition he triggered from the Democrats and establishment media.
“I was surprised that the left was so stirred up by this. It actually is a little bit flattering really,” Moore said.
“I think they were worried that I would be able to persuade the folks that govern over there of the fact that we need a new model and a way they could really promote free enterprise and stable prices,” he added. “I do feel a little bit sad about that because I think the Fed has made a lot of mistakes and those are unforced errors that do damage to the economy.”
The White House was considering additional candidates for the Federal Reserve before Cain and Moore withdrew. Moore believes Trump can still successfully nominate a loyalist and critic of the Fed.
“It wasn’t so much my criticism of the Fed,” Moore said. “It was controversial things I said about my divorce and things like that.”
Trump is considering “excellent people” for the post who have similar “philosophical grounding” to himself, Moore said. He suggested that Judy Shelton, an economic adviser to Trump, is an ideal nominee.
“I think she’s just fantastic. She'd be better than me on the Fed, frankly. She’s an expert on monetary policy,” Moore said. “Judy would be an excellent choice.”
Congress established the Fed to keep inflation in check and prevent economic booms and busts. The central bank has failed to prevent several major booms and busts since its creation. Critics of the Fed suggest its policies may have resulted in the booms and busts it was created to prevent.
In 2018, Trump repeatedly criticized the Federal Reserve for raising interest rates. The president has said that the central bank is a bigger problem than China and the biggest problem facing the United States economy. Moore called on the chair of the Federal Reserve to resign after the central bank raised interest rates again in December.
In late April, Trump called on the Fed to cut interest rates by 1 percent. Moore believes a 0.25 percent cut to reverse the hike in October 2018 is appropriate.
While he regrets to not be able to “change the world” through his service on the Fed, Moore said he is still happy where he is.
“I thought maybe I could, but I’m going to continue to fight like hell to make sure that Donald Trump gets reelected because I think it really is the most important thing for our country right now,” he said.
Moore believes the opposition to his nomination was fueled by opponents of Trump who don’t want the president to succeed.
“I’ve been more right than I had been wrong on the economy and they don’t want Trump to be successful,” Moore said. “They’re threatened by these ideas of letting the Fed adopt the policy of stable prices. And if you put that on top of tax cuts and less regulation and a pro-business atmosphere in Washington, the sky is the limit in terms of how much this economy can grow.”
