Trump praises 'ideas' of guy who cheered child labor and bans on women

Trump announced Thursday that Stephen Moore would no longer be considered for a position on the Federal Reserve Board. Over the past several weeks, Moore became toxic even to Republican senators because of the many noxious ideas he espoused in his right-wing columns.

As late as Thursday morning, Moore told reporters that his nomination was “full speed ahead.”

“My biggest ally is the president,” he said.

In a humiliating turnaround, Trump announced Moore had withdrawn from consideration a few hours later.

But even as Trump was forced to pull his nomination, Trump actually cheered his “ideas.”

“Steve won the battle of ideas,” Trump said, touting the failed GOP tax scam and deregulation efforts.

But the ideas that sank Moore’s nomination included his embrace of child labor and several extreme anti-women rants he wrote in conservative media outlets.

In 2016, Moore defended an idea he called “radical”: getting rid of most of the nation’s child labor laws.

“I want people starting to work at 11, 12,” he said.

In 2002, Moore wrote that he was sick and tired of women participating in or even attending sporting events like college basketball games.

“Here’s the rule change I propose: No more women refs, no women announcers, no women beer venders, no women anything,” Moore demanded. He wanted a safe space where “men can take vacation from women.”

More has recently tried to defend his views as “jokes.” His humor went so far as to make jokes about how Democrats are like mangled corpses and mocking people living with AIDS.

Like Trump, Moore engaged in racist tropes to attack President Obama. One of Moore’s favorite “jokes” was about how Trump kicked a black man out of public housing when Trump took over residing in the White House.

Moore is also a tax cheat, unless he was just playing a “joke” on the IRS by not paying $75,000 in taxes.

Moore’s outlandish, unfunny columns were enough for even Republican senators to object to his nomination. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) called his past statements “ridiculous” and said she was “not enthused” about his nomination. Ernst’s comments are surprising, considering she enthusiastically embraced an alleged attempted rapist when Trump nominated him for the Supreme Court.

“The only thing less funny than some of Mr. Moore’s tasteless, offensive, sexist ‘jokes’ was the idea that President Trump would even consider him for a seat on the Federal Reserve,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement.

In the end, Moore’s demeaning and racist comments sank his nomination, even as Trump praised him as an ideas guy.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.