President Trump is considering nominating Herman Cain to the Federal Reserve. You’d think liberal Democrats would be the first to demagogue the idea.
No, leave it to relevance-starved Mitt Romney to be one of the first to put his foot snuggly into mouth.
In an interview, the Utah Republican senator brushed off the prospect of Trump following through and officially nominating Cain: “I doubt that will be a nomination. But if it were a nomination, you can bet [what] the interest rates he would be pushing for. If Herman Cain were on the Fed, you’d know the interest rate would soon be 9-9-9,” Romney said in an interview on Thursday afternoon.
Later Thursday, Trump announced that he had “recommended” Cain for the position, saying that Cain was undergoing a background check and “would be in great shape. I find Herman to be an outstanding person, a truly outstanding individual,” the president said. “I would think he would do very well there.”
— Politico, 4/4/19
Herman Cain is qualified to be on the Federal Reserve Board. He’s been on one before.
In 1994, as head of the National Restaurant Association, he had the opportunity to speak with President Clinton during a nationally televised town hall meeting. Here, Herman challenged the President regarding the impact on businesses if his health care overhaul proposal were passed. President Clinton attempted to assure him and the millions of viewers watching at home that his legislation would not harm American business owners and their employees.
Herman was skeptical. “Quite honestly Mr. President, your calculations are incorrect,” he said. “In the competitive marketplace, it simply doesn’t work that way.” His words echoed across America, and Newsweek named Herman Cain the primary saboteur of Hillarycare.
Through these and other appearances on behalf of the National Restaurant Association, Herman began working with business leaders across all sectors of the American economy. This led to his acceptance of a position on the Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, and he was subsequently elected their chairman. In this role, he analyzed economic conditions in the region and notified the Federal Reserve of how their policies should respond.
— WSB, 4/23/13
Obviously, Mitt Romney doesn’t associate with many black Republicans so knowing anything about one would be a stretch. But this is yet another lesson in being very careful about criticizing someone just because you can; not because you’re informed enough about that person to do so.
Then again, Romney STILL has his sights on what he’s always considered his birthright: the presidency. So we’ll be graced by his presence and pained “wit” (thanks to Utah) for the foreseeable future.