Herman Cain withdraws from consideration for seat on Federal Reserve's board, Trump says

Herman Cain has withdrawn from consideration for a seat on the Federal Reserve board, President Donald Trump said on Twitter Monday.

His withdrawal came amid an increasing focus on past scandals, but Trump called him a "wonderful man" on Twitter.

"My friend Herman Cain, a truly wonderful man, has asked me not to nominate him for a seat on the Federal Reserve Board," Trump tweeted. "I will respect his wishes. Herman is a great American who truly loves our Country!"

Cain, a former CEO of Godfather's Pizza, dropped out of the 2012 presidential race amid allegations of sexual harassment and infidelity. The issues resurfaced after Trump said he intended to nominate Cain to the central bank's board of governors.

Earlier this month, four Republican senators said they wouldn't vote to confirm him if he were nominated. North Dakota Sen. Kevin Cramer joined Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner and Utah Sen. Mitt Romney to oppose Cain for the Federal Reserve board seat.

Their announcement doomed his chances since the GOP holds just a three-seat majority in the Senate. Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refused to say 10 days ago whether the chamber would confirm Cain.

Last fall, Cain, a Trump loyalist and deeply conservative political figure, co-founded a pro-Trump super political action committee, America Fighting Back PAC. It features a photo of the president on its website and says, "We must protect Donald Trump and his agenda from impeachment."

The PAC was among the reasons Trump's nomination of Cain raised concerns about the Fed's ability to remain politically independent.

The Fed's seven-member board currently has two empty seats. Trump has also nominated conservative ally Stephen Moore for a separate vacancy on the board.

Earlier in April, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said elevating Cain and Moore to the Fed would risk politicizing the nation's central bank and endangering the economy.

"These two appointments to the Fed are the worst, ill-suited appointment that the president could come up with," she told reporters.

The potential nominations surfaced after Trump has spent months attacking his pick to lead the Fed, Jerome Powell, and other Fed officials for raising interest rates four times last year.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. This story was reported from Los Angeles.