Cain: I never changed story

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

Presidential candidate Herman Cain said Tuesday that he never changed his story about sexual- harassment allegations against him in the 1990s while he was the head of the National Restaurant Association, despite giving a series of conflicting statements in the two days since the accusations were disclosed.

A day earlier, Cain had said he was unaware of a financial settlement given a female employee in connection with allegations Cain had engaged in inappropriate sexual behavior. He later acknowledged he was aware of an “agreement” but not a settlement.

“It was an agreement. So it looked like I had changed my story. I didn’t change my story,” Cain told CNN’s Headline News. “The difference between settlement and agreement, it makes a difference to me.”

Over the past two days, Cain has admitted he knew of one agreement between the National Restaurant Association and a woman who accused him of sexual harassment. He has said the woman initially asked for a large financial settlement but ultimately received two to three months’ pay as part of a separation agreement. Cain also acknowledged remembering one of the woman’s accusations against him, saying he stepped close to her to make a reference to her height, and told her she was the same height as his wife.

He has said he is not aware of any other agreements or settlements with any other women, though Politico — which first disclosed the allegations Sunday night — reported that the trade group had given financial settlements to at least two female employees who accused the entrepreneur of inappropriate sexual behavior.

The Georgia businessman who is near the top of national polls in the Republican presidential race was in his second day Tuesday of damage-control mode as he looked to blunt the fallout of years-old sexual harassment accusations that surfaced just two months before the leadoff Iowa presidential caucuses.

He spent Tuesday much like he did Monday, hopping from interview to interview to defend himself. Cain has repeatedly has denied that he sexually harassed anyone, and has said he was falsely accused. He also has argued that the allegations are part of a “witch hunt.” And he said “there’s nothing else there to dig up” — all but daring opposition researchers to dive into his lengthy business career.

The immediate political fallout was unclear, although the harassment allegations — and Cain’s response to them — have the potential to reshuffle the GOP race.

At least initially, conservatives rallied around Cain, likening the attacks on the Republican presidential contender to what they describe as the “high-tech lynching” of another prominent black Republican: Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

The forceful early reaction to the Cain firestorm — fueled by racially charged rhetoric — suggests the Georgia businessman’s attempt to cast himself as a victim of the media and liberals could, so far, be paying dividends within his conservative Republican base, which will hold considerable sway in selecting the party’s nominee.

The head of the conservative Media Research Center, Brent Bozell, labeled the story a “high-tech lynching,” evoking Thomas’ divisive Supreme Court confirmation hearings two decades ago, where he was confronted with sexual harassment allegations from a onetime employee, Anita Hill.

“I think the left is totally and completely terrified of a conservative black man coming to power and prominence,” said Debbie Dooley, a leader of Atlanta Tea Party Patriots. “They are trying to do the same thing to him that they did with Clarence Thomas.”