Herman Cain should have just refused to speak while chewing his food–and then refused to stop chewing his food.
The GOP candidate sat down with GQ correspondent Chris Heath and food critic Alan Richman at beloved DC pizza joint Seventh Hill. While you may have read about his comical conclusions concerning pizza toppings and manhood (“The more toppings a man has on his pizza, I believe the more manly he is”), Cain also made several striking statements about his opponents as well.
Asked if he would be comfortable with Michelle Bachmann in the Oval Office, Cain replied “That would make me a little nervous.”
He went on: “I don’t see great leadership qualities in Michele Bachmann. I think she has some leadership qualities. But I don’t see those qualities that are going to be strong enough to do many of the things that I know the next President of the United States is going to have to do.”
Richman pounced, querying Cain if Bachmann’s lack of leadership was a result of her being a woman. Cain simply replied, “No.”
After characterizing Texas governor Rick Perry as the ice cream flavor “rocky road,” Cain also pointed to him as another candidate that would make him uncomfortable as President. “You don’t only have to be commander-in-chief, you have to be communicator-in-chief,” Cain explained.
Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum got a bit of a brush-off: “Santorum wouldn’t frighten me. I just don’t think that he would be an effective president,” Cain said.
Of all his opponents it was Ron Paul that disturbed Cain the most.
“I would be scared if he was President,” Cain said.
Cain explained that he is “puzzled by what [Paul] stands for. Puzzled by some of his extreme statements, like ‘End the Fed!’ ‘End everything!’ Can’t we fix something?”
The entire interview wasn’t all negative. Cain allowed that his debate buddy “Newt would be an excellent President” before slyly adding “but I just don’t know if he can get there.”
