Conservative Radio Host Joins The Fray, Says Cain Has Been “Inappropriate” With Females
Nov 3, 2011 25 Comments ›› Pat Dollard
Herman Cain swept Michele Bachmann into a very close embrace during a rally of Christian home-school advocates at the Iowa Capitol on March 23.
Now that Herman Cain’s chief of staff is drawing attention to them, observations by Iowa conservative radio host Steve Deace about the presidential candidate’s behavior are getting national exposure.
On Monday, Deace posted a message on his Facebook page that Cain had “said things to both of my female staffers that at best are professionally awkward if not inappropriate over the last several months.”
Deace has been critical of how Cain behaved while the Georgia Republican was in Iowa doing interviews. But Deace has tried to keep his public comments strictly on Cain’s record, saying Cain has done back-tracking and flip-flopping on key issues in recent weeks.
On Monday, Deace told The Des Moines Register he didn’t want to talk publicly about what Cain did that made the women present at his radio interviews uncomfortable.
“I have instructed our employees not to address the situation specifically,” Deace said Monday. “At this point I see no need in dragging them into this individually.”
But on Tuesday, Cain’s chief of staff Mark Block, while insisting Cain has never sexually harassed anyone, made a passing comment that seemed to refer to Deace’s staff, as Politico noted in an article this afternoon.
“As the hours go by, it’s interesting that we even hear from a radio talk show host of Iowa that a receptionist thought that Mr. Cain’s comments were inappropriate,” Block said a National Journal event, according to Politico.
Deace told Politico today that when he has written about Cain, he has tried to “make it about his record and not the personal stuff.”
During his Oct. 3 broadcast in Iowa, Deace mentioned that Cain made a comment to a woman who was there to report on the radio interview for another news agency.
“Cain said, ‘Darling, do you mind doctoring my tea for me?’” Deace said.
Deace told the Register last month that he believes Cain was talking about adding honey and lemon, but that it was an awkward moment.
Cain’s behavior on the campaign trail and in his distant past have been under intense scrutiny since Politico on Sunday reported that two women who worked for Cain at the National Restaurant Association complained of sexually suggestive behavior by Cain, accepted money to leave their jobs, and signed confidentiality agreements. Cain was CEO from 1996 to 1999.
Cain on Monday said he has never sexually harassed anyone. He called the allegations part of a “witch hunt.”
Iowa Republicans have noted the distinct differences in how Herman Cain greeted Michele Bachmann in Iowa, and how Ron Paul greeted her the same day. Photographer Dave Davidson, a Des Moines conservative, said Cain’s tight hug didn’t seem inappropriate. (Dave Davidson/Prezography.com)
