Herman Cain 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' Appearance: GOP Candidate Addresses Sharon Bialek Press Conference During Interview (VIDEO)
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GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain sat down for an interview Monday night on ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" to discuss various topics.
The interview started off with Kimmel asking Cain, "So, how was your day?" Cain responded, "Well, all things considered, I'm still alive. It got off to somewhat of a rough start." The "rough start" referred to a press conference held earlier on Monday by Sharon Bialek, the fourth woman to make sexual harassment allegations against Cain. Bialek, standing beside her attorney Gloria Allred, described an incident in which she alleges Cain "reached over and put his hand on my leg, up my skirt, and towards my genitals." Bialek also said that Cain "grabbed [her] head and brought it towards his crotch." Allred also spoke during the press conference and explained that when Bialek allegedly came to Cain for help after losing her job, "Mr. Cain instead decided to try to provide her with his idea of a stimulus package."
Speaking about the press conference, Kimmel jokingly asked Cain, "Have you considered hiring Gloria Allred as your attorney?" The Republican contender explained, "You almost made me say something that my handlers say you should not say. Let me put it to you this way, I can't think of anything that I would hire her to do, okay. I can't think of a thing." Describing his reaction to Bialek's press conference, Cain said, "there's not an ounce of truth in all of these accusations." He continued, "Here's one thing people don't know about Herman Cain. I'm in it to win it, and I'm not gonna be discouraged by all of this stuff."
Kimmel also asked Cain about his large fundraising haul since sexual harassment accusations against the candidate first came to light. Cain had, according to his campaign, "one of our best fundraising days ever" after the scandal broke. Kimmel inquired, "To what do you attribute the fact that you've raised $2 million over the past week? Do you think that has something to do with these allegations?" Cain answered, "I'm sure it does." He also explained, "the American people are saying, we are sick of gutter politics and it's not gonna work. And they basically said that they're sick of it with their money."
Cain was also asked about a now famous campaign ad featuring his Chief of Staff Mark Block. The ad features an awkward visual of Block smoking a cigarette. Cain, defending the ad, explained, "We have a saying in my campaign. Let Herman be Herman. Let Mark be Mark. And let people be people. That's really one of the things of my whole campaign. He smokes, he wasn't trying to tell anybody else to smoke. But that's him. That was Mark being Mark." Kimmel wondered if Cain is a smoker, to which Cain replied, "I do not smoke. Never have I smoked." The late-night host went further, asking Cain, "Have you ever smoked pot?" The former Godfather's Pizza CEO said definitively, "No. I have never smoked pot."
During the interview, Cain admitted to Kimmel that his wife is a Democrat. Nonetheless, the candidate stated, "that doesn't mean that that's how she votes all the time. She still says she's a Democrat, and I believe that, but that doesn't mean that she votes Democrat." Cain told Kimmel that upon seeing the Bialek press conference, his wife said, "that doesn't even sound like you and I've known you for 45 years."
Cain's troubles are unlikely to go away any time soon. On top of the current accusations made against Cain, The Washington Examiner reported on Monday night that a fifth woman has come forward alleging strange behavior on Cain's part. Per the Examiner:
A former employee of the United States Agency for International Development says Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain asked her to help arrange a dinner date for him with a female audience member following a speech he delivered nine years ago.
The former USAID employee explained, "I couldn't swear that he had some untoward intentions, but we all thought his tone was suspect and we didn't feel comfortable putting him in touch with that woman."
The Examiner reports of her recollection, "Cain exhibited no inappropriate sexual behavior during the dinner, though he did order two $400 bottles of wine and stuck the women with the bill, she said."
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First Posted: 11/08/11 03:38 AM ET Updated: 11/08/11 11:59 AM ET