Trump Nominee Stephen Moore Says He Regrets Writings That Disparaged Women

President Donald Trump s choice for a seat on the powerful Federal Reserve Board said he regrets some of his writings from nearly two decades ago in which he made derogatory remarks about women in sports .

They were humor columns, but some of them werent funny and so I am apologetic, Im embarrassed by some of those things that I wrote, Stephen Moore said Sunday during an interview with ABCs This Week.

\"Sure I do,\" potential Fed board nominee Stephen Moore says when asked if he regrets any of his past writings disparaging women.

\"They were humor columns, but some of them weren't funny and so I am apologetic, I'm embarrassed by some of those things\" https://t.co/ITLVfQsgkk pic.twitter.com/3ouhe8Qa6A

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"Sure I do," potential Fed board nominee Stephen Moore says when asked if he regrets any of his past writings disparaging women.

"They were humor columns, but some of them weren't funny and so I am apologetic, I'm embarrassed by some of those things" https://t.co/ITLVfQsgkk pic.twitter.com/3ouhe8Qa6A
This Week (@ThisWeekABC) April 28, 2019

In several columns published in the early 2000s by the National Review , a conservative magazine, Moore expressed his displeasure with women in sports not just as players, but as referees and commentators.

In one 2002 column, he wrote:

How outrageous is this? This year they allowed a woman ref a mens NCAA game. Liberals celebrate this breakthrough as a triumph for gender equity. The NCAA has been touting this as example of how progressive they are. I see it as an obscenity. Is there no area in life where men can take vacation from women? Whats next? Women invited to bachelor parties? Women in combat? (Oh yeah, theyve done that already.) Why cant women ref the womens games and men the mens games.

In another column, Moore mocked women in sports demanding equal pay for equal work and argued that female athletes are inferior to their male counterpoints.

Even as he sought to distance himself from the columns in his ABC interview, Moore said he was being targeted by a smear campaign. He urged his critics to focus instead on his qualifications for the job.

Moore is a former member of The Wall Street Journal editorial board. He also worked at the conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation and has appeared frequently on Fox News .

Nominees to the Fed, which sets the nations monetary policy, typically come to the post with extensive experience in the world of monetary economics. Moore admitted he has no such experience.

Another of Trumps picks for a Fed seat, former presidential candidate Herman Cain, withdrew himself from consideration last week amid renewed scrutiny of accusations of sexual harassment.

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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) urged Republicans last week not to confirm Moore simply to compensate for Cain withdrawal. Schumer called Moore equally unqualified, and perhaps more political for the job than Cain.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story incorrectly referred to Chuck Schumer as the Senate majority leader.