Late Night: Herman Cain, on ‘Jimmy Kimmel,’ denies harassment
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Monday night, just hours after Sharon Bialek became the fourth woman to accuse Herman Cain of sexual harassment, the Republican front-runner paid a visit to ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live.’ Given Kimmel’s frat-boy image -- he once hosted ‘The Man Show,’ after all -- it may not have been the wisest choice in venues, but Cain seemed thrilled to be there.
Not surprisingly, Cain was dismissive of the latest round of allegations, which he called ‘totally fabricated,’ though he was pleased that Bialek had gone on the record. ‘At least it wasn’t one of the many that have the first name ‘Anonymous,’ so now this one actually had a name and a face,’ he said. Cain also vowed he would hold a news conference Tuesday “to set the record straight.”
‘Have you considered hiring Gloria Allred as your attorney?’ Kimmel joked, a reference to the high-profile lawyer representing his latest accuser. Cain replied, ‘Let me put it this way -- I can’t think of anything I would hire her to do.’
As for the mounting claims, Cain issued another blanket denial.
Kimmel was not exactly a tough interlocutor -- he didn’t, for instance, ask Cain about the settlements paid to at least two of the alleged victims -- but he did point out Cain’s unfortunate phrasing. “You said, ‘When people get on the Cain train, they don’t get off.’ Do you regret that choice of words?” (He did not.)
Cain seemed entirely unfazed by the scandal; if anything, he seemed happy about it, boasting that ‘the day of the firestorm, we had the highest fundraising day online in the history of this campaign.’
‘Do you think the other candidates will follow suit and hire woman to accuse them of sexual harassment?’ Kimmel asked.
‘If they’re smart they will,’ Cain said.
Hilarious, right?
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-- Meredith Blake
Twitter.com/MeredithBlake