Former pizza executive Herman Cain said Tuesday that previous sexual harassment accusations “had nothing to do” with him turning down President Trump’s nomination for the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, citing media restrictions being the main deterrent for him.
Mr. Cain was referring to harassment allegations that came forward during his 2012 campaign for president, leading to his departure from the race.
He further explained his decision to turn down Mr. Trump’s Fed board nomination.
“My decision was driven by one thing. During phase one of this process — collecting all the information, and also finding out from administration staffers the things that I could and could not do. When I started to look at the list of things that I could not do … that is like taking a stallion, keeping him in the stable, and not let him run,” Mr. Cain said in an interview on Fox News Network’s “Hannity” show.
“I couldn’t do the things that I enjoy. I enjoy the new voice, I enjoy my show, I enjoy speaking, I enjoy my website, I enjoy working with people, and most importantly, Sean, just like you, I enjoy educating people about the power of capitalism and how socialism has never worked since the history of man,” the executive told Sean Hannity.
“If I had become the federal reserve governor, I would have been limited in terms of what I could talk about and tell people the truth, whereas, in this environment, I am unlimited in being able to say what I want, when I want, to whomever if I want when it comes to the truth,” Mr. Cain said.
SEE ALSO: Herman Cain tells Donald Trump to remove him from consideration for Fed Board
He also said the job would have required a heavy “pay cut” should he have accepted in a different article.
“Let’s just say I’m pretty confident that if your boss told you to take a similar pay cut, you’d tell him where to go,” Mr. Cain said.
He asked Mr. Trump on Monday to remove him from consideration for the
Federal Reserve Board of Governors.
Mr. Cain did not mention four Republican senators saying they would vote against him, possibly blocking his nomination, as a reason for his withdrawal.
• Bailey Vogt can be reached at bvogt@washingtontimes.com.
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