Businessman Herman Cain took to the airways Tuesday to address the accusations coming from some named and unnamed sources alleging he engaged in some form of sexual harassment during his tenure as head of the National Restaurant Association in the 1990s. Cain has attempted to rebut every accusation and has denied wrongdoing in each case.
Whether this appearance hurts or helps Cain, you be the judge. Here is the entire press conference, all 27 minutes in which Cain gives a statement and then takes questions from media in the room.
Report from CBS News:
Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain said Tuesday that he would be willing to take a lie detector test to rebut multiple claims that he engaged in sexual harassment in the 1990s, though he seemed to stop short of promising to do so.
“Yes. I absolutely would,” Cain said when asked about taking a test. “But I’m not going to do that unless I have a good reason to do that. Of course I would be willing to do a lie detector test.”
Sharon Bialek has accused Cain of putting his hand under her skirt and pushing her head toward his crotch after a dinner meeting in 1997, after she had been let go from the National Restaurant Association. She was the first woman to make the claim publicly, though three other women had done so anonymously.
During a press conference in Scottsdale to address the scandal threatening to engulf his campaign, Cain repeated his claim that he did not recognize Bialek when he saw her at her press conference Monday and said he did not remember her name.
“I tried to remember if I recognized her, and I didn’t. I tried to remember if I remembered that name, and I didn’t,” he said.
As he has repeatedly, Cain categorically denied having all of the allegations leveled at him, saying, “I have never acted inappropriately with anyone. Period.”
Clearly the polls are beginning to reflect some doubt in the minds of some GOP primary voters, however, only time will tell in the next couple weeks how this continues to shake out.
