Stephen Moore says he’ll drop out of Fed consideration if he becomes a ‘political problem’ for GOP

Stephen Moore, President Trump’s controversial pick for the Federal Reserve Board, said Wednesday that he is “totally committed” to seeing the process through, but would bow out if he became a political liability to Republicans.

In a Thursday interview with The Wall Street Journal, the conservative economist and commentator said he would stick with the vetting process for a formal nomination unless it could damage the GOP’s standing in the 2020 election.

“I’m totally committed to it as long as the White House is totally committed to it,” Moore told the Journal, ceding that he would drop out, “if something I said or something I’ve done becomes a political problem.”

“I don’t want to be a liability,” Moore added. “Why should we risk a Senate seat for a Federal Reserve board person, you know? I mean, that just doesn’t make any sense.”

{mosads}Trump floated Moore, an adviser to his 2016 presidential campaign, for a spot on the Fed board last month, but has not yet formally nominated him.

Moore has spent the years since the election advocating the president’s economic agenda in interviews and op-eds, including for The Hill.

While Moore has been a figure in Washington conservative circles for decades, several Republican senators expressed concerns about his close ties to Trump, who has repeatedly and harshly criticized the Fed for almost a year.

Moore has also been fiercely critical of the Fed and reportedly won Trump’s blessing for an appointment with an opinion piece blasting the independent central bank.

Moore has also come under scrutiny for old columns he authored opposing the presence of women in sports or sportscasting, which he said Wednesday that he regretted.

“What we’re doing for the economy has greatly benefited women,” Moore said Wednesday. “But it is true that I’m not a big fan of women’s college basketball. I can go on the record on that.”