Stephen Moore Might Be Too Sexist Even for This Administration

Time and again the Trump administration has surprised the country with its ability to make sexism a thing of the present, so imagine my astonishment that one of President Donald Trump’s picks for the Federal Reserve’s board might actually see some retribution for his deeply sexist past comments.

Following a report last week from CNN’s KFile that Trump nominee Stephen Moore previously wrote columns for National Review magazine disparaging women and female athletes—including calling for a ban on women refereeing or even selling concessions at sporting events—press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said on Monday that the White House is “reviewing” his past writings.

“Certainly we’re reviewing those comments and when we have an update on that front we’ll let you know,” Sanders told reporters, according to CNN.

According to the original CNN report, Moore, who served as a campaign adviser to Trump in 2016, wrote columns between 2001 and 2003 in which he complained about, among many things, his wife voting for Democrats (“Women are sooo malleable! No wonder there’s a gender gap”) and called to ban women from March Madness (“No more women refs, no women announcers, no women beer venders, no women anything…Is there no area in life where men can take vacation from women?”).

In that report, Moore shook off his comments as “a sense of humor” to the network, saying it was “a spoof.”

After the story ran, Moore went on a conservative radio show and said Democrats are “pulling a Kavanaugh against me.” Meanwhile, Trump economic adviser Larry Kudlow told reporters last week that Moore still had Trump’s support. However, Moore conceded he’d be willing to take himself out of the running if he became a “liability” for the Trump administration or Republicans in an interview with the Wall Street Journal.

“I don’t want to be a liability,” he told the Journal. “Why should we risk a Senate seat for a Federal Reserve board person, you know? I mean that just doesn’t make any sense.”

Sure, it doesn’t make any sense, but Trump stubbornly pushed for Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination despite the credible allegation of sexual assault against him. Again, I am amazed that Moore’s comments on women in sports could lead to any consequences. Given Sanders’ track record with the truth, I’ll believe the White House actually cares about sexism when I see it.