Even though he faces almost insurmountable Republican opposition, Herman Cain, touted for a position on the Federal Reserve Board by President Donald Trump, said Wednesday he refuses to back down and will continue to seek a spot on the board.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, he said withdrawing from consideration for the nomination is out of the question even though GOP senators have pretty much doomed his nomination, The Hill reports.
The former GOP presidential candidate said he’s “very committed” to sticking with the vetting process after Trump announced his intentions of nominating Cain if he passed a background check.
“The president asked me one simple question,” Cain said. “He said, ‘Would you consider doing this if you make it through the process?’ I said yes. Didn’t hesitate.”
Cain, the former president of the Kansas City Federal Reserve Board and the former CEO of Godfather’s Pizza, was picked by Trump but not nominated for the two available seats, CNBC reports.
Four Senate Republicans have said they refuse to vote for the 2012 presidential candidate if he is nominated by Trump. GOP senators Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Cory Gardner (Colorado), Mitt Romney (Utah), and Kevin Cramer (North Dakota) have all said they flatly refuse to vote for Cain. Others have also question Cain’s background and character.
Cain faced accusations of sexual harassment from four women while he led the National Restaurant Association, a trade group in Washington, D.C. Although he denied the allegations he reached a settlement with two of his accusers.
Tuesday, Larry Kudlow, Trump’s top economic adviser said the White House is reviewing a number of candidates for the seat. He noted it will be up to Cain to decide if he wants to stay in the process.
Cain told the WSJ he knew Kudlow was “giving [him] an out.”
“I don’t want an out,” he said.
But some Republican senators are also worried about his close ties to the president, his partisanship and ongoing leadership in a super PAC dedicated to reelecting Trump in 2020.
And if Cain is nominated, he would need the support of one Senate Democrat to be confirmed if all other Republicans voted for him. While Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) has supported other Trump nominees, he said last week he would not support Cain.
Cain is also a well-known conspiracy theorist who specializes in sending spam emails. That alone should be enough reason to question him.
Featured image by Gage Skidmore, license CC SA 2.0 via Flickr
