Herman Cain Sexual Harassment Allegations Brought Up At GOP Debate (VIDEO)

To audible boos and groans, CNBC debate host Maria Bartiromo on Wednesday asked GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain the question we'd been girding ourselves for -- his sexual harassment allegations. It's an odd fit for a debate on the economy, and Bartiromo had to couch it in terms of "leadership" and "character" in order to get it in. It only barely did -- the audience was not happy to hear this inquiry coming up.

Cain responded, "The American people deserve better than someone being tried in the court of public opinion based on unfounded accusations." That altered the mood of the audience instantaneously. (No one seems to mind that the Cain campaign had only recently levied unfounded accusations against a former Politico reporter based solely on the weird idea that he was related to one of his accusers.)

"For every person who'd come forward with a false accusation," Cain said, "there are thousands who will say 'I never saw that from Herman Cain.'"

The moderators made an attempt to bring Mitt Romney into this conversation. Again came an adverse reaction from the audience. Romney knew better than to get mixed up in Cain's mess: "Herman Cain is the person who should address that, and he did."

John Harwood threw the debate back to Jon Huntsman: "I'd like to switch back to the economy." Big cheers from the audience, and Cain's in the clear.

 

 

Comments

[Liv2learn]

02:42 PM on 11/13/2011

He passed the wanted Lie Detector test. He was and is incapable of such crimes. He will be our next President and I thank God for that.

[Cunningham]

09:33 PM on 11/11/2011

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart had the best graphic on this:

"He said, she said, she said, she said, she said"

Perfect!

[PuSencer]

08:17 PM on 11/11/2011

definition of hypocrisy: a group of people who will impeach a president for consensual sex, but won't condemn an individual of their own mindset for unwanted and inappropriate sexual advances.
hahahahahahahahahaha

[unique]

10:29 PM on 11/10/2011

I find Herman Cain disrespectful toward women.
Either the women are not telling the truth or they
are Princess Pelosi. Herman you need to rethink
your opinion of women and keep you remarks and
your hands to yourself.

[Passenger57]

10:11 PM on 11/10/2011

Actually, the quote is, "The American people deserve better than someone...".

[Passenger57]

10:09 PM on 11/10/2011

"The American people deserve someone better than someone being tried in the court of public opinion based on unfounded allegations".

Since the "someone" that's "being tried in the court of public opinion based on unfounded allegations" is YOU, Herb, then I agree with you 999% - the American people deserve someone better than YOU...

[cloudminder]

09:18 PM on 11/10/2011

why isn't anyone in the media section covering this on Mary Matalin --about this statement she made:

"BLITZER: Another Republican presidenti­al debate tonight, Herman Cain will, of course, participat­e. Let's discuss what's going on with that cloud hanging over his campaign.
Joining us in our "Strategy Session" right now, Mary Matalin, CNN political contributo­r, a Republican strategist and Roland Martin, our CNN political analyst as well.
Mary, you thought he was pretty good yesterday in his news conference­, didn't you?
MARY MATALIN, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTO­R: I thought he was unequivoca­l and it was a solid and was a high stakes gamble. He put everything out there and if he is the -- if the grievance girls cannot come up with anymore, he'll be heroic.'

http://www­6.lexisnex­is.com/pub­lisher/End­User?Actio­n=UserDisp­layFullDoc­ument&orgI­d=574&topi­cId=100007­219&docId=­l:15379298­36&Em=7&st­art=5

"Grievance Girls"

[capt hastings]

10:08 PM on 11/10/2011

she's disgusting

[Cunningham]

09:36 PM on 11/11/2011

Agreed! So's her husband. They're both disgusting opportunists.

[chrisfrenzy]

03:23 PM on 11/10/2011

Keep in mind, this is the same audience that believes gay marriage is dangerous to the sanctity of marriage.

[tnkeating]

03:11 PM on 11/10/2011

The fact that Maria asked that question knowing full well these were just accusations with no proof what-so-ever shows more about her character. Her intent was clearly to diminish Mr. Cain in the eyes of the public. She failed miserably. More important than the boos was the applause for Mr. Cain after he answered.

[BxGurl0813]

01:44 PM on 11/11/2011

Confidential settlement agreements with cash payouts is pretty damning evidence.

[Sandy MichaelsSmith]

10:16 PM on 11/13/2011

Actually it isn't. It doesn't mean someone was guilty. It could mean that the organization didn't want to go through a costly court case. Not an admission of guilt.

[SUNDIED]

02:52 PM on 11/10/2011

My hat is off to Maria Bartiromo (not normally one of my favorites). She also pressed Newt and he folded like a cheap suit.

[KennyJr]

02:37 PM on 11/10/2011

Media comments appear to be centered on the idea that the boos occurred because the audience felt that Herman Cain shouldn't be held accountable for his alleged sexual harassment activities.

It's my belief that the groans and boos that came from the audience were voiced because Maria Bartiromo violated her own dictum (she stated in the beginning that going off the topic of the economy would not be tolerated) .. and .. she broke up the continuity of the debate, a good debate that was, as demanded up front, centered on the economy.

[Sandy MichaelsSmith]

10:19 PM on 11/13/2011

Thank you KennyJr for having some sense here! It shocks me how many people see one blurb on TV and feel they know everything there is to know about a situation that only two people on the earth know the truth about. Once again....kudos for being the voice of reason!

[sglahn817]

02:33 PM on 11/10/2011

sounds like fair game to me.

[truthorsnare]

02:31 PM on 11/10/2011

This explains why the GOP never bothered to properly vet Cain. They'd rather clap when he calls the former Speaker of the House "Princess Nancy"...something that a guy would suspect views of women feels very comfortable saying, especially in front of a Republican crowd.

[We Should Care]

02:27 PM on 11/10/2011

This guy was a joke before we knew he was a sexual harasser; his lack of knowledge and the Chinese nuclear indications was not the first indication he is not the sharpest knife in the draw. He really should pack up and go home, stop wasting everyone's time.

[Sandy MichaelsSmith]

10:20 PM on 11/13/2011

Lack of knowledge...hmmmm....sounds like our current president when he doesn't have a teleprompter.

[darter22]

02:23 PM on 11/10/2011

How is the audience selected for these debates?