When it comes to problematic nominations, Donald Trump reigns supreme. So it should come as no surprise that Stephen Moore, Trump’s political ally and pick for the Federal Reserve Board, has withdrawn his name from consideration in light of his racist and gendered “jokes” being exposed.
Recently, Moore appeared on PBS’ Firing Lane with Margaret Hoover and defended controversial statements he made in the past. One of which was a “joke” about how Trump kicked President Barack Obama and his family out of “public housing.”
When asked about the racist remark, Moore said, “So, you know, that, that is a joke that I always made about, you know, Obama lives in, you know, the president lives in public housing. But I didn’t mean it like a black person did.”
When host Margaret Hoover pointed out how the optics of a conservative, white man joking about kicking a Black family out of public housing, is particularly problematic during this time, the economic commentator put the origins of the “humor” on “Blacks” who were apart of an educational voucher program.
“People would say, well, you know, and these were, these were Blacks who would say, you know, why does Barack Obama get to send his kids to any school that he wants to and we can’t?” Moore claims. “And they’d say, he lives in public housing…”
Moore was also questioned about a statement he made on men being the breadwinner of the family. In 2000, during an appearance on C-SPAN, he alleged that the earning increase among Black women was proving detrimental to the family unit.
“It’s not a good thing that Black women are making more than Black men today. In fact, the male needs to be the breadwinner of the family, and one of the reasons I think 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. So, I would like to see an increase in Black earnings because Black men have not closed the gap as much as Black women have.”
Although Moore now insists that he shouldn’t have phrased his words the way he did, he does maintain that his thoughts were formed on the basis that wages for women have seen a considerable increase while wages for men have declined.
According to a leanin.org survey, women overall are paid 20 percent less than men. When broken down by race, Black women make nearly 40 percent less than men. The American Association of University Women predicts that the United States won’t reach wage parity until 2119.
“Again, you can, you go back 30 years, you’re going to be able to find clips over and over and over again about me,” Moore said in his defense. “I have a long paper trail. I mean there’s no question about it. And I say things that are kind of jokes that if people want to pick them apart, then I probably won’t, you know, get on the Federal Reserve Board.”
Moore may be a poor excuse for a comedian, but it appears as if he can definitely read the future.