President Trump announced Thursday that he was nominating former Godfather’s Pizza president Herman Cain to an open seat on the Federal Reserve.
“I have recommended Herman Cain. He is a very terrific man, a terrific person. He is a friend of mine,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
“I have told my folks that that’s the man,” Trump said.
Trump’s pick of Cain to fill a spot on the seven-person Board of Governors follows the controversial choice last week of Heritage Foundation economist Stephen Moore to fill a different open seat.
Cain mounted an unsuccessful Senate bid in Georgia in 2004 and ran for president in 2012, both times as a Republican. The latter campaign ran aground following accusations of sexual harassment by Cain during his tenure as president of the National Restaurant Association. Cain denied the charges but ended his campaign shortly afterwards.
Trump said Thursday that he was not concerned about Cain’s background, which would be scrutinized in the administration’s nomination preparatory work and by the Senate in the confirmation process. “He’s doing some pre-checking now, and I would imagine he’d be in great shape,” Trump said. “I have found Herman to be an outstanding person, a truly outstanding individual.”
Cain has experience in the Federal Reserve System, having served as the chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City in the mid-1990s. That role is separate from the role of president at the regional bank and did not entail active involvement Fed’s monetary policy deliberations.
In 2012, Cain advocated for a return to a gold standard, a position that places him outside the mainstream of central bankers. He has also advocated narrowing the Fed’s mandate so that it is no longer tasked with maintaining maximum employment and instead focuses solely on maintain stable prices.
Cain, a prominent African-American businessman, first gained political attention in 1994 when he debated President Bill Clinton over healthcare at a town meeting in Kansas City, Mo. Cain argued that Clinton’s then-proposed healthcare plan would force businesses to lay off workers. The incident made him a favorite of conservative groups.
