Enlarge Eric Thayer/Getty Images Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain speaks at a press conference in Arizona.
In a press conference in Arizona, Cain repeated twice, "I have never acted inappropriately with anyone. Period." The former Godfather's Pizza CEO added that the scandal and the media feeding frenzy were not going to push him to quit the GOP presidential race.
"Ain't gonna happen," he said.
Cain did address allegations made by Karen Kraushaar, the 55-year-old woman identified today as one of the two women who in the late 1990s settled claims of sexual harassment against him.
"When she made her accusations they were found to be baseless," he said. She could not find anyone, he added, to corroborate her story.
Cain said he'd be willing to take a lie detector test and said the allegations made yesterday by a woman — Sharon Bialek of Chicago — who says he sexually harassed her in the late 1990s "simply did not happen."
He repeated what he said in an earlier interview, that he did not recognize her "face, name or voice."
Our friends at It's All Politics are the lead on this story, so they'll have much more.
Update at 6:15 p.m. ET. A Little More Detail:
We wanted to add a few more highlights from the press conference:
— Cain suggested that other accusers might "come out of the woodwork." Not, because he's aware of any others, but because of the zeal to keep him out of the White House.
"The machine to keep a business man out of the White House is going to be relentless," he said.
— The press conference started with an appearance from noted attorney Lin Wood, who represented Richard Jewell, the security guard falsely accused in the Atlanta Olympic bombing.
Wood said that Cain was on trial in the "court of public opinion," and now "Herman Cain has to respond to hearsay," without the benefit of the justice system.
— Cain said that throughout his professional career, "respect for women [has been] a priority."
No comments:
Post a Comment