Bodybuilding Donor Wants Fitness Post

A celebrity bodybuilder who gave $100,000 to the Democratic National Committee’s campaign fund last fall is now angling to head up the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Athletics.

Jake “Body by Jake” Steinfeld, whose Los Angeles-based fitness shows are aired on cable TV, visited Washington last week to discuss the job with officials at the Department of Health and Human Services.

Reports of Steinfeld’s candidacy follow disclosure of a controversial DNC memo recommending “appointments to boards and commissions” as one way to reward donors.

“Irrespective of any donations, on the merits (Steinfeld) would be an excellent candidate,” said White House spokesman David Johnson, adding that no recommendations have been made.

Besides his cable shows, Steinfeld runs a fitness training company and has appeared in comedy shows on HBO and the Family Channel.

According to a 1994 report in the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, officials at the Family Channel were upset to find he had appeared in a sex scene with a bare-breasted actress in an HBO comedy show. The story quoted Steinfeld as saying “the woman rode me like a 12-speed bike.”

The fitness council job is currently held by Tom McMillan, a former Democratic congressman.