Embattled Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain is considering dropping out of the race for the White House, The Daily Caller has confirmed.
Robert Costa of National Review first reported the news, writing that Cain held a conference call Tuesday morning with his senior campaign staff to say he is “reassessing” whether to remain in the race.
“He told them he will make his final decision ‘over the next several days,’” Costa wrote.
The news comes as Cain fights new allegations that he had an extended extramarital affair with a Georgia woman. Cain, who has denied the affair, told CNN on Monday that he would stay in the race, “as long as my wife is behind me and as long as my wife believes I should stay in this race.”
J.D. Gordon, a spokesman for Cain, told TheDC that, “It’s a reassessment of where we stand and the road ahead, similar to other times in the campaign’s history.” He said Cain is still planning on giving an address on foreign policy and national security Tuesday night at Hillsdale College in Michigan.
In a transcript of the conference call posted by National Review, Cain continued to tell his staff that the allegations are unfounded.
“First thing I want to do is say to you what I have said publicly: I deny those charges, unequivocally. Secondly, I have known this lady for a number of years. And thirdly, I have been attempting to help her financially because she was out of work and destitute, desperate. So thinking that she was a friend, and I have helped many friends, I now know that she wasn’t the friend that I thought she was. But it was a just a friendship relationship,” he said.
During an interview Monday with WAGA-TV in Atlanta, Ginger White went public with allegations that she and Cain had an affair spanning 13 years.
White’s allegation followed stories that Cain was accused of inappropriate sexual behavior dating back to his leadership of the National Restaurant Association in the 1990s. He has denied all the allegations.
In the five-minute call, Cain admitted this isn’t the first time he’s made a reassessment about whether to continue forward, citing his fifth place finish in the Ames Straw Poll in Iowa in August as one example of a time he’s done so.
Cain also admitted that the new allegations have “taken a toll on my wife and family, as you would imagine.”
“Any time you put another cloud of doubt, unfortunately, in the court of public opinion, for some people, you’re guilty until proven innocent,” he said. “And so, the public will have to decide whether they believe her or whether they believe me. That’s why we’re going to give it time, to see what type of response we get from our supporters.”