GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain fielded questions during multiple Fox News interviews on Tuesday night, appearing on "Special Report With Bret Baier" as well as "The O'Reilly Factor."
During his interview on "Special Report," Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer asked Cain whether he believes race played a role in the accusations leveled against him:
Krauthammer: "Do you think that race or being a strong black conservative, has anything to do with the fact that you've been so charged, and if so, do you have any evidence to support that?"
Cain: "I believe the answer is yes, but we do not have any evidence to support it. But because I am an unconventional candidate running an unconventional campaign and achieving some unexpected, unconventional results in terms of the poll, we believe that, yes, there are some people who are Democrats, liberals, who do not want to see me win the nomination. And there could be some people on the right who don't want to see me because I'm not the quote-unquote 'establishment' candidate. No evidence."
Krauthammer pressed Cain further on the race issue in order to get a more definitive response. Cain responded that the left side of the political spectrum might be more racially driven than the right. "Relative to the left, I believe that race is a bigger driving factor. I don't think it's a driving factor on the right. This is just based upon our speculation," explained Cain. Video of Cain's answer can be viewed at the top of this story.
Cain also responded to a story in Tuesday's Washington Post which reported that one of Cain's accusers would like speak out about the past allegations but is prohibited from doing so due to a confidentiality agreement. When asked by Baier if Cain would call for the National Restaurant Association to waive the confidentiality portion of the agreement in order to allow the accuser to speak, Cain said, "I can't answer that now" due to "legal implications." He continued that "it's too soon" to provide an answer to the question.
When Cain was asked if he is sure he has not violated the confidentiality agreement during his recent media appearances, he explained, "Absolutely, because I never used a name. One of them I didn't even know the name and the one I was familiar with, I never mentioned the person's name. I don't believe that I have." He also admitted that his campaign "could have been better prepared" for the allegations that have surfaced. He concluded that "in the future we probably will be" better prepared.
Speaking later in the night with Bill O'Reilly, Cain was asked whether the current controversy would hurt his campaign. The former Godfather's Pizza CEO stated, "I don't think so. Bill, in the last 24 hours, our fundraising has been the highest it has been since I've been in this campaign. The phone calls into our campaign office have just locked up the phone system, practically." HuffPost's Sam Stein reported today on the Cain campaign's fundraising bonanza since the scandal broke:
WASHINGTON -- Herman Cain had one of THE best fundraising days of his presidential campaign on Monday, raising $250,000 in online donations despite reports that he had been twice accused of sexual harassment.
The quarter of a million dollar haul made for "one of our best fundraising days ever," Cain's campaign chief of staff Mark Block told a D.C election-themed conference sponsored by the National Journal. Cain himself said on Laura Ingraham's radio show Tuesday that since the story broke Sunday night, "the fundraising has increased significantly."
O'Reilly also asked Cain if he expected to encounter allegations once he became competitive in the GOP race. Cain responded, "Yes, we did. We did expect them. We just didn't know what type or what source they were going to come from. But it was expected. And as you noticed and pointed out, once I got near the top in the polls and in many of them was number one, then they let all of the dogs out."
Cain has faced continuous questioning over the past few days relating to sexual harassment allegations from over a decade ago. HuffPost produced a quick recap of Cain's media tour which can be found here.