Politics

Herman Cain: Allegations ‘just the nature of things if you’ve ever done much’

Alex Pappas Political Reporter
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Facing new sexual harassment allegations which he denied Monday in a terse statement, Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain says it’s no surprise that some former employees are now complaining about him, pointing out that thousands of people worked for him over the years.

“That is just the nature of things if you’ve ever done much in your life,” Cain wrote in a column sent to supporters on Monday night.

This new text comes as a fourth allegation of inappropriate sexual behavior was lodged against him Monday, by a woman named Sharon Bialek who recalled an alleged episode dating back to the 1990s when Cain was CEO of the National Restaurant Association

“Consider: I held various executive positions in corporate America for several decades. I had thousands of employees working for me,” Cain wrote. “I can’t even begin to recall how many conversations I had with people during that time, how many directives I gave, how much friendly banter might have taken place.”

He also said: “I also had to make tough decisions during these years. I turned around a poorly performing region for Burger King, then turned around a struggling Godfather’s Pizza organization. At some point during a career like this, someone will not like things you do, or how you do it. Someone will complain.”

Cain also used his column to criticize the media’s behavior, writing, “Unfortunately, the media-driven process by which one must seek this opportunity [the presidency] is fundamentally unserious.” (RELATED: Sharon Bialek becomes first named accuser of Herman Cain)

“I have touched on this before — the emphasis on ‘gaffes,’ gotcha questions and time devoted to trivial nonsense — and everyone knows the process only became further detached from relevance this week as the media published anonymous, ancient, vague personal allegations against me,” Cain wrote about stories first published by Politico about two other women who complained about the candidate in the 1990s.

Added Cain: “Once this kind of nonsense starts, the media’s rules say you have to act in a certain way. I am well aware of these rules. And I refuse to play by them.”

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