Condoleezza Rice On Herman Cain Sexual Harassment Allegations: 'The Truth Will Come Out'

Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice commented on sexual harassment allegations against Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain, and about George W. Bush's perceived lack of intellectual curiosity, in an interview on "Hannity" on Fox News Tuesday night.

Politico reported Sunday that two women had accused Cain of inappropriate behavior while he was head of the National Restaurant Association, and had received financial payouts. His response to the story has shifted multiple times this week, from claiming to know nothing about the settlements to admitting some prior knowledge.

"The truth will come out. And hopefully, we can get past it so that the very interesting debate that we're having on the Republican side about how to think about the size of government, how to think about dealing with our core issues, like education and immigration, that we can get back to that," Rice said. "But I'm not surprised, and I'll tell you I don't like to play the race card on either side."

In her memoir, No Higher Honor, Rice defended President Bush against people who played the "explosive 'race card'" against him.

Rice's memoir also details her sometimes strange meetings with foreign leaders. Among the most bizarre is her meeting with former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who presented her with a scrapbook of pictures of her alongside other foreign officials, as well as a song composed by a Libyan composer, titled "Black Flower in the White House."

Rice also defended President Bush against the perception that he is uncurious and anti-intellectual. "I think the greatest misconception about George W. Bush was that he was somehow not interested, not curious, didn't ask tough questions. I saw more cabinet secretaries go into the Oval Office with their presentations about whatever issue and before they could get to page two, he'd ask the most incisive question that they'd forgotten to prepare for," she said on Fox.

"And he was a strategic thinker, always looking at the big picture, always looking at how to think about America's values and America's power in a way that would really progress, make the world more progressive, make the world freer, more prosperous. And he was an exceptional president in that way. And I just loved working with him, because he was so insightful. And he also read five books for every one that I read," she continued.

Former Bush White House senior adviser Karl Rove also wrote in a 2008 column that Bush loved books, and the two "recommended volumes to each other."

Rice also said she would support the Republican nominee. "You learn a lot in these primaries about how people will stand up to pressure. And so, you know, we'll have a nominee soon. And then I'll support that nominee."

Comments

[BoFo]

09:42 PM on 11/04/2011

Given that Condoleezza Rice continued to lie about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq even after her cohorts admitted there was no evidence of their existence, why would anyone believe anything she says?

[scrappyjack]

09:20 PM on 11/03/2011

From what I've gathered in the press and on TV, Mr. CAIN is
a very intelligent man, probably very capable of running our
Country. I'm saddened by the prospects being so dim after
all these Sexual Harrassment allegations and Rumors. I don't
buy the "999' plan at all. It only sounds good on paper, but
would never work in actual practice. But he is very bright in
lots of his other ways of thinking. COMMOM SENSE reigns
with Mr. Cain!

[scrappyjack]

09:12 PM on 11/03/2011

Yeeks! SCANDAL already! He hasn't even had a chance to
go to STAPLES yet to get some tacks to put up those
CAIN for GAIN posters yet!

[Athirson]

01:14 PM on 11/03/2011

It certainly looks as if Dr. Mushroom Cloud s right in one respect.

The truth is coming out as more of Raisin' Cain's victims come forward.

[sachazg]

01:01 PM on 11/03/2011

Wow Condi, try not to sound so sensitive to victims of sexual assault.

[BethanySchnepally]

03:05 PM on 11/04/2011

It was alleged harassment. Not alleged assault. Huge difference.

[hungryaardvark]

11:25 AM on 11/03/2011

Dubja was extremely curious. He was curious about his tee times, where he left his chain saw on the ranch, whether he needed to walk the dog, whether there might be another war he could start or country he could bankrupt, whether there was another surveillance program he could impose on Americans.....

Dubja thought Shakespeare was something a tribal native did to show off, and that math was something a Catholic with a lisp went to.

[Smith14P]

10:17 AM on 11/03/2011

So Bush look to see the wider picture, somehow it didn't give him the results. It seem very difficult to understand Bush seeing anything, he didn't have the brain, poor man.

[Sammmo]

10:01 AM on 11/03/2011

Why is this"the worst Secretary of State" in years person out in front of the media! ? Does she need some attention, too? Where is Palin? It has been a few weeks since she was in the news! All these people need to continue to hide themselves away ......just like Bushy. Perhaps since they think he was a wonderful president they need to follow his example. Hide, and don't travel to the middle east or Europe.

[FDRbyGodDemocrat]

10:28 AM on 11/03/2011

Before you say "worst" Secretary of State, let's not forget Henry Kissinger. Many more people died on his watch than on Rice's.

[hungryaardvark]

11:28 AM on 11/03/2011

Rice is HO'ing her book. She was at Dubja's ranch in August 2011 when the President's Daily Brief showed that the US was under threat of attack. Chuckle-headed it off with Dubja. Referred to Dubja as her husband. Maybe those hours together with Dubja in the WH gym were especially tiring.

[WI Dude]

09:55 AM on 11/03/2011

"Former Bush White House senior adviser Karl Rove also wrote in a 2008 column that Bush loved books, and the two "recommended volumes to each other."

He liked one book so much he decided to finish the story before attending to the defense of our country under attack. Absolutely riveting reading.

[jdevans]

11:56 AM on 11/03/2011

Bush had to find out what happened to the pet goat. He already knew that bin Laden was determined to strike in the US. Is he going to have "My Pet Goat" in his presidential library?

[WI Dude]

03:40 PM on 11/03/2011

That made me spit

[Dann J May]

09:55 AM on 11/03/2011

I think Condi meant to say Bush read five graphic novels for every book she read. This sounds like the irrational defense of Condi for her lover, since her description of Bush flies in the face of all the evidence that Bush was an intellectual light weight. Just look at all his gaffes that are in the public record. And isn't there some evidence that Bush is dyslexic?

[Stephen1349]

08:43 AM on 11/03/2011

Of course she will support the Republican nominee. After all, she was in the pockets of Exxon for years and probably still is. You don't get an oil tanker named "The Condoleeza" for nothing.

[4thepeopleandme]

09:45 AM on 11/03/2011

Oh, OK. That explains it. It appears that 'Big Oil' has been lubricating more than just car engines !!!

[Stephen1349]

11:10 AM on 11/03/2011

You carried it there in your mind..not me..lol. Implications are dangerous things.

[georgecarlin76]

07:53 AM on 11/03/2011

Why are we listening to a proven liar who wouldn't testify under oath about the sept attacks. In fact she claimed they could never envision such a scenario but there was a military exercise about that very scenario and it was on that fateful day. I knew she as lying because I remembered reading AP stories in the news about the 2000 G20 summit in Genoa where they set up anti-aircraft guns around the summit in case hijacked airliners were used as bombs against them!

[4thepeopleandme]

07:00 AM on 11/03/2011

It sounds like Condi gave it up to "W" if you ask me. Why else would such an intelligent, but lost, female continue to go down in flames for this man. I think I have finally figured it out. He must have put that, "Texas Swag" on her. I agree with Pappy50, the segment was supposed to be about Cain, but she tries her best not recognize racial issues to the point where she has truly convinced her herself that race NEVER has anything to do with ABSOLUTELY anything. But as far as Condi love preferences, I would have just figured she would have fallen for someone more CEREBRAL.

Sell your book girl, at all costs.

The NERDY girls always fall for the dumb jocks. Why is that?

I now know why, these girls are attracted to trouble. The dumb jocks always get into fights, or in this case, start wars, etc.

[jdevans]

11:57 AM on 11/03/2011

Condi did call Dubya her "husband" once.

[KaleighGMcLaury]

06:27 AM on 11/03/2011

It is time for Americans to become better informed about their world and also to expect more from their candidates for political office. When a potential candidate compares himself to a Biblical Old Testament figure such as Moses, the law giver to Israel, one wonders whether they suffer from "delusions of grandeur," a serious symptom in illness. When one "talks down" about a particular part of the world one wonders about their motivations for wanting the highest post in the world, the President of the United States of America. Let us all prayerfully and intellecutually examine those candidates who we elect for high office.

[pappy50]

06:06 AM on 11/03/2011

So let's recap. The headline for this article indicates it is about Rice talking about Cain. But mostly it's about Rice talking about Bush. Then it's followed up with a video of some guy commenting about Cain. The journalism at the Post is really going downhill. Shouldn't the majority of the content be Rice talking about Cain? Just another hit piece on Cain. And hasn't the Post been saying how racist Rice thinks Bush was? Doesn't sound like it here.