Washington (CNN) President Donald Trump's Federal Reserve pick Stephen Moore, facing criticism over his past writing about women and gender equality, said he would back out of the process if his previous activities make him a "liability" for Republicans running for re-election in 2020, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

Moore told the Journal he would remove himself from consideration "'if something I said or something I've done becomes a political problem' for the White House or Senate Republicans, particularly those facing reelection in 2020."

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

Earlier this week, CNN's KFile reported that Moore had written in columns for the National Review that women should be banned from refereeing, announcing or beer vending at men's college basketball games. He also criticized female athletes advocating for pay equality, writing that they wanted "equal pay for inferior work."

"This was a spoof. I have a sense of humor," Moore, a longtime conservative commentator and former Wall Street Journal editorial board member, said in an email to CNN.

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