ROCHESTER, Mich. — The moderators of CNBC’s Republican presidential debate were booed Wednesday night when they tried to turn from the scheduled topic of the economy to the recent allegations of sexual harassment against Herman Cain.
Approximately 15 minutes into the 90-minute debate, moderators Maria Bartiromo and John Harwood received boos and jeers from the audience when Bartiromo tried to ask Cain about “character issues.”
“Americans deserve better than someone being tried in the court of public opinion,” Cain said, noting that the “unfounded accusations” amounted to “character assassination.”
The audience continued to groan when Harwood followed up by asking former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney to comment on the recent controversy.
Romney declined to attack his rival, instead saying, “Herman Cain is the person to respond to these questions,” which elicited loud cheers from the audience at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. “He just did,” Romney continued, “The people in this room and around the country can make their own determination.”
Harwood then received riotous applause when he decided to “switch back to the economy.”
Politico first reported last week that at least two women received settlements from the National Restaurant Association (NRA) after lodging sexual harassment claims against Cain while he headed the lobbying group from 1996-1999. Four women have now accused Cain of sexual harassment, including two whose identities have been revealed publicly.
But for the most part, the 90-minute debate focused on the candidates’ prescriptions for the country’s ailing economy, and in particular its high nine percent unemployment rate. Romney and Cain were joined by six other contenders for the Republican presidential nomination, in the ninth debate of the 2012 cycle.
All the candidates hammered President Barack Obama for mishandling the economy, agreeing that lower taxes and less regulation are the right remedy to stimulate economic growth.
Romney accused Obama of heading an administration that “doesn’t like businesses,” adding that the president has “failed us badly.”
Texas Gov. Rick Perry said that the key impediment to economic growth has been excessive regulation by the federal government under Obama’s watch. “The real issue facing America is regulations,” he said, arguing that the next president should fix the mess by “pulling back every regulation since 2008” that doesn’t create jobs.
Several other candidates, including Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, advocated repealing “Obamacare” and the Democratic Dodd-Frank financial reform legislation that regulated banks following the financial crisis.
Texas Rep. Ron Paul argued that the main issue facing the country was its out-of-control spending, and pledged to cut $1 trillion from the federal budget during his first year in office.
Perry and Cain cited the merits of their flat tax plans, with the former Godfather’s Pizza CEO declaring that under his famed 9-9-9 plan, “everyone gets treated the same.”
When asked about conservatives who worry that his nine percent national sales tax could be raised to nineteen percent by future congresses, Cain defended his plan, saying, “Tax codes don’t raise taxes, politicians do.”
Asked by one of the moderators why he was not also proposing a flat tax like some of his rivals on stage, Romney said that he wanted to help the middle class, who have been hit the hardest by the bad economy.
Wednesday night’s debate — the first of five to be staged this month — will be followed by one on foreign policy in South Carolina Saturday night.
The most recent Wall Street Journal/NBC News national poll showed Romney leading the field with 28 percent support, ahead of Cain with 27 percent and Gingrich with 13 percent. Perry and Paul followed with 10 percent apiece.