Campaign 2012

Herman Cain Defends His Right To Pause

It's Herman Cain's party and he'll pause if he wants to. (Getty)

Herman Cain has had his fair share of troubles these past couple of weeks. The latest of which has nothing to do with sexual harassment, but rather his much publicized interview Monday morning with the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, during which Mr. Cain paused for an unnervingly long period of time when asked if he agreed with the Obama administration’s handling of the situation in Libya. His gaffe haunted Mr. Cain in Iowa, where reporters hounded him for an explanation of his bumbling Libya analysis. 

Mr. Cain attempted to excuse his apparent confusion and painfully long pause by pointing out how difficult it is to answer questions about different topics.

“First of all, you need to understand what happened at the editorial board,” Mr. Cain said. “Being in a room where you’re being asked question after question about different topic after different topic, I paused, and I don’t understand why that pause created so much quote-unquote controversy.”

Though he isn’t sure what all the fuss was about, Mr. Cain made sure reporters were clear he was willing to own up to any perceived mistakes.

“I paused to gather my thoughts. I have never not taken responsibility for what some people perceive as mishaps, missteps or whatever the case may be,” Mr. Cain said. “In that particular case, I paused to gather my thoughts. And in any other instance where I may have said something that had been misinterpreted, I have always corrected myself.”

 

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