Former Secretary of Labor nominee Andy Puzder, whose name has been mentioned among those in the mix to replace National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn, said Tuesday he hasn't talked with the White House about the opening, but he would consider it an honor to serve with the Trump administration.
"The president asks you to serve, you serve, but I have not been asked to serve," Puzder told Fox News' "Fox & Friends."
"I am enjoying defending him in public and writing about his policies and coming on your show."
President Donald Trump said Tuesday that CNBC personality Larry Kudlow has "a very good chance" at replacing Cohn.
"I"m looking at Larry Kudlow very strongly," Trump told reporters as he left the White House for a trip to California. "He now has come around to believing in tariffs."
Meanwhile, Puzder, the former CEO of CKE Restaurants, the parent company of Hardee's and Carl's Jr., looked ahead to President Donald Trump's future agenda, and said one would "hope there would be a phase two" when it comes to tax reform.
"I don't know if you saw this morning, the NFIB, the National Federation of Independent Businesses, came out with its monthly optimism survey," Puzder said. "For the first time since 2006, taxes were not the number one concern of small business. Regulation wasn't the number one concern."
Instead, Puzder continued, finding employees was the the main worry of most businesses.
"Throughout the entire Obama administration, the number one and number two concerns were taxes and regulations," said Puzder. "If that doesn't tell the story [about] what happened with President Trump and the tax boom and economic boom, I don't know what does."
Puzder said it's not likely the media will report on the NFIB report, as it will be busy reporting on Russia.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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