According to President Trump, former presidential candidate Herman Cain has removed his name from consideration to be elected for the Federal Reserve Board. On Monday, Trump tweeted: “My friend Herman Cain, a truly wonderful man, has asked me not to nominate him for a seat on the Federal Reserve Board. I will respect his wishes. Herman is a great American who truly loves our Country!”
According to The Wall Street Journal, President Trump stated on April 4 that he was planning on nominating Cain to one of the two open spots on the Federal Reserve’s board of governors. On Monday, Cain talked about the reasons why he took his name out of the running in a piece that he wrote for The Western Journal.
In his post, Cain explained that he believed he could make a bigger impact as a private citizen of the U.S. He spoke about praying about the decision throughout the weekend, even though he had already drafted a report of his reasonings behind withdrawing his name. Cain explained that he believes God gave him his answer, and that was to not go after the position.
“After I went through Phase 1 of the background check, which involves my 50-year business career being picked over like a carcass, I was told they were next checking everything I’d ever written for anything that could be controversial. Would they find anything controversial? I certainly think so!” wrote Cain.
Cain was also informed that if he took the position at the Federal Reserve, he would have to stop hosting his radio show, and stop making paid speeches speaking out for capitalism and other issues he cared about. He would also have to stop making appearances on Fox Business Network. Cain also described the pay cut he would receive as “substantial.”
“I also started wondering if I’d be giving up too much influence to get a little bit of policy impact. With my current media activities, I can reach close to 4 million people a month with the ideas I believe in,” wrote Cain. At the end of all of his internal debating, Cain decided it wouldn’t be in his best interest to take the position, and he called the White House on Monday to inform them of his decision.
“It was an honor to be considered. Under different circumstances, I would like to have served. I realize not everyone was a fan of my prospective nomination, and that’s OK. I was prepared to make the case for myself and I was prepared to live with the outcome,” wrote Cain, who was the chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank in Kansas City in the mid-1990s.
After leaving his position with the Federal Reserve Bank, Cain went on to become the president of the National Restaurant Association in Washington, D.C., where he stayed until 1999. For decades, Cain has been active in conservative politics, which include showing his support for the Tea Party movement in 2010. He also campaigned for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012. Unfortunately, after Politico reported that Cain had been accused of sexual harassment while he was at the head of the National Restaurant Association, he withdrew himself from the campaign. Cain has always denied allegations of sexual harassment.
According to Fox News, Cain withdrew himself from consideration for the Federal Reserve Board after four Republican senators, Sens. Lisa Murkowski, Mitt Romney, Kevin Cramer, and Cory Gardner said they wouldn’t support him. The senators explained that they were concerned with the sexual harassment allegations as well as his conservative activism.
According to the Wall Street Journal, as recently as last week, Cain had said that he was “very committed” to going through the process, and he had no plans on withdrawing his name from the running. “I happen to believe that you need some new voices on the Federal Reserve,” he said. “I don’t quit because of negative criticism. I don’t quit because of negative attacks. And I don’t quit because several senators have expressed reservations about my qualifications,” he continued. Well, as it seems, Cain changed the sound of his tune rather quickly.
