President Trump’s potential pick for the Federal Reserve Board is being haunted by his past.

Stephen Moore is facing criticism as reportedly sexist remarks in previous interviews and writings have resurfaced, with videos discovered by Media Matters showing the conservative economist and commentator making several sexist remarks including comments about Fox News being “fair, balanced, and blonde.”

Moore made frequent guest appearances at Fox News before he began working at the network as a contributor from 2013 to 2017. His many remarks highlighted in the surfaced videos seemed to center around the same theme.

“It’s great to be working with Fox News. You know their motto, by the way? Fair, balanced, and blonde, right? I’ve met a lot of beautiful women at Fox News, including Megyn Kelly, who I have to confess — my wife isn’t here — I’m in love with Megyn Kelly,” he said in a 2012 video.

“You know the theme of Fox News, right? Fair, balanced, and blonde. I’ve met so many, you know, beautiful women at Fox and it’s a lot of fun to work there.” pic.twitter.com/OUe4Sv4dXj

— Eric Hananoki (@ehananoki) April 24, 2019

“People are always asking me, ‘What’s Greta [Van Susteren] really like?’ And I say, ‘Greta is absolutely perfect for Fox News,” he said in another video from 2013. “She’s fair, balanced, and blonde.’ And that is the philosophy of Fox News. … One of the great things about working at Fox News: I have met a lot of beautiful women at Fox News. It’s a great place to work.”

Moore apparently made the same joke many times over the years, saying in one 2013 video clip that he had “met a lot of beautiful women at Fox News and it’s one of the fringe benefits of working there.”

The video clips highlighted by Media Matters follow after some of his old National Review pieces were unearthed by CNN, containing comments about women in sports, the gender pay gap and other allegedly misogynistic remarks

CNN’s Andrew Kaczynski and Paul LeBlanc reported that Moore “has written that women should be banned from refereeing, announcing or beer vending at men’s college basketball games, asking if there was any area in life ‘where men can take vacation from women.’”

When we asked Moore for comment he emailed back, “This was a spoof. I have a sense of humor.” He did not explain was the joke was when asked or why he wrote it four separate times over three years. https://t.co/nXJsBFF3xk

— andrew kaczynski (@KFILE) April 22, 2019

The free-market economist, who also worked at The Wall Street Journal and advised Trump during his campaign, left Fox News to move over to CNN in early 2017. The network reportedly dropped him as a contributor after news of the nomination to the Federal Reserve.

Moore joined CNN as a contributor in early 2017. Given this news, he is no longer with the network, a CNN spokeswoman confirms. https://t.co/v2donxatUE

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) March 22, 2019

Moore slammed various news outlets on Wednesday for “pulling a Kavanaugh” against him since Trump’s nomination.

“I was so honored when I got the call from Donald Trump but you know, all it has been since then is one personal assault after another, a kind of character assassination that has nothing to do with economics,” he said during an interview on WZFG radio.

“You know, my divorce 10 years ago, or something I wrote 25 years ago. They have six full-time investigative reporters looking into me at The Washington Post and the New York Times, and CNN,” Moore said.

“I kind of wear it as a badge of honor, that they’re so afraid of me, that they want all these people looking into my past because they’re worried that I’m going to prevail here,” he added. “They have not attacked me on my economic ideas.”

The coverage of him has been “National Enquirer stuff,” Moore agreed with the radio show host, adding, “They’re pulling a Kavanaugh against me,” referring to the contentious nomination process for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh last year.

“I don’t even know what ‘pulling a Kavanaugh’ means,” Kaczynski, CNN KFILE senior editor, shot back.

(Video: CNN)

“Look, when you’re a nominee or pick for a public administration, your record is going to get scrutinized. Things that you say, things that you did–those are going to be reported on,” he said on CNN. “I know this morning he was referring to this as a smear campaign, covering comments he made about women, and covering things that he said in columns. That is not a smear campaign. That is reporting on his record. So, it’s a little odd that he finds just commenting things that he has done and said to be such a problem for him.”

Moore indicated that he is “totally committed” to the process, regardless of the attacks against him, unless he proves to be a political liability to Trump and Republicans.

“I want to help make America the most prosperous place in the world,” Moore told The Wall Street Journal in an interview published Thursday. “I’m totally committed to it as long as the White House is totally committed to it.”

“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.”

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Frieda Powers

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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida where she has been writing for the BizPacReview team since 2015.

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