Cain compares controversy to Thomas

by Bob Cusack - 10/31/11 4:32 PM ET

Herman Cain on Monday likened his sexual allegations controversy to the charges made against Clarence Thomas in 1991.

Asked by The Hill whether he sees a similar dynamic to the allegations brought by Anita Hill against the African-American Supreme Court Justice, Cain told The Hill, “There seems to be some similarities. … Probably so.”

He added, “The only question would be how long are people going to drag this baseless, false accusation out? I can’t determine that.”

The allegations about Thomas attracted intense media attention for weeks before the Senate voted to confirm him, 52-48.

{mosads}The Hill interviewed Cain, who is black, minutes after the candidate’s appearance on Fox News where he emphatically said he has never sexually assaulted anyone, pushing back against anonymous sources cited in a Politico report.

The former CEO of Godfather’s Pizza acknowledged that the charges will cost him “a few votes.”

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“I don’t think it’s going to cost us a lot, because I believe people who have connected with me and my message — they have also looked at my record and they, you know, see me as a person of integrity and character,” Cain told The Hill.

Cain earlier this year predicted liberals would attack him in a similar fashion to the way they treated Thomas, who replaced Justice Thurgood Marshall, the first black Supreme Court justice.

In May, Cain told The Washington Examiner, “They’re going to come after me more viciously than they would a white candidate. … And so, to use Clarence Thomas as an example, I’m ready for the same high-tech lynching that he went through — for the good of this country.”

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