Trump Reportedly Won't Pick Gary Cohn As Fed Chair

The economic adviser appears to have fallen out of favor with Trump since criticizing the president's Charlottesville responses.
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President Donald Trump is leaning against picking Gary Cohn, director of the National Economic Council, to lead the Federal Reserve, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

The president had previously said he was considering Cohn among other candidates. He also said he is considering the possibility of renominating Janet Yellen, who has led the Fed since 2014.

According to Wednesday’s report, Trump cooled on elevating his top economic adviser to the role after the former Goldman Sachs president said he felt “distress” over Trump’s response to the racist violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, last month.

The White House didn’t immediately return HuffPost’s request for comment.

Cohn’s remarks in a Financial Times interview came in response to Trump’s refusal to explicitly condemn white supremacists for the clashes at a “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville. In that interview, Cohn said the administration “can and must do better in consistently and unequivocally condemning these groups.” Trump was reportedly furious with Cohn’s comments.

Cohn, who is Jewish, reportedly drafted a resignation letter amid the Charlottesville fallout.

Earlier Wednesday, the Federal Reserve’s vice chairman, Stanley Fischer, announced he will end his term early. That move, according to CNBC, indicates that Yellen may also be ready to leave when her term expires next year.

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