Limbaugh Falsely Suggests That No Cain Accusers Have Made Specific Allegations

On his radio show today, Rush Limbaugh stated that “nobody can tell us” what Herman Cain did when he allegedly sexually harassed women during his time at the National Restaurant Association.

LIMBAUGH: I don't know what I've missed. Has anybody called any of these women with Cain a hooker? Zero that you know of, too? I've not heard that. Has anybody called any of them a gold digger? Now, somebody might have employed [sic] that the woman that uses makeup by the tub, what is her name? It's Bialek. I've heard some people say, you know, bankrupt twice and so forth, but I've not heard anybody say they're gold diggers. What I've heard is that they're all righteous and they're indignant and they think the world needs to know what the man did. But nobody can tell us what he did.

Either Limbaugh is being deliberately inaccurate here, or he is doing a dismal job of following the story in the news. Sharon Bialek, the accuser he mentioned, was very specific in her allegation against Cain. She laid out these details at a highly publicized press conference, as The New York Times reported:

Speaking before a phalanx of journalists in Manhattan, the woman, Sharon Bialek, said she asked Mr. Cain for employment help in 1997 after being fired from the association's education foundation.

After taking her out for a night on the town in Washington, she said, he suggested she engage with him sexually in return for his assistance -- seizing her inappropriately when they were alone in a car and running his hand up her skirt.

“Mr. Cain said, 'You want a job, right?' ” she said.

[...]

Ms. Bialek said Mr. Cain first surprised her by upgrading her room at the Capital Hilton to a grandiose suite, and letting her know that he had done so after meeting her there for drinks in a lobby bar. She said he then took her to dinner at an Italian restaurant, after which he offered to drive her home, making his approach in the parked car.

As she described it, Mr. Cain ran his hand up her skirt, “reached for my genitals” and pulled her head toward his crotch. “I said, 'What are you doing? You know I have a boyfriend; this isn't what I came here for,' ” Ms. Bialek said, her voice cracking. “Mr. Cain said, 'You want a job, right?' ”

She said when she asked him to take her home he did so, “right away.”

At this time, the accusations against Cain are still just that and have not been proven. However, to suggest that none of the accusers have made specific allegations is just plain false, and seems to be part of Limbaugh's campaign to delegitimize and demean the Cain accusers and women in general in any way he can think of.