Presidential candidate Herman Cain was questioned again about allegations that he sexually harassed several women during his tenure as president of the National Restaurant Association (NRA) during an interview with David Letterman on Friday.
“The reason that I went front and center in front of the media was because I knew that there wasn’t anything to it,” Cain told the “Late Show” host. “There’s no more documentation, nothing else has come up. So we have moved on.”
“So these statements are all false? All of these women are lying?” Letterman said. “They’re all lying. They are all lying.”
“Did not happen,” Cain said. “Yes, they are.”
Politico first reported in late October that at least two women received settlements from the NRA after making sexual harassment claims against Cain while he headed the lobbying group from 1996-1999. Four women have accused Cain of sexual harassment, and two — Karen Kraushaar and Sharon Bialek — have been named publicly.
Letterman reminded both Cain and the audience that he survived his own workplace sex scandal.
In 2009, Letterman confessed on his show to affairs with several “Late Show” subordinates, after a former CBS producer tried to use information about those relationships to blackmail him.
The producer, Robert “Joe” Halderman, was released from a New York City jail last year after serving four months.
During the interview, Letterman also made a dig about Cain’s grasp of his own 9-9-9 tax plan, recalling that he once answered “I don’t know” when quizzed on the details.
“That was one of those obscure questions that was asked about 9-9-9,” Cain said.
“Yeah, but you’ve got to deal with the obscurity when you’re president,” Letterman retorted.
The interview, which was taped Friday afternoon, will air on “The Late Show with David Letterman” on CBS at 11:35pm ET.