Cain accuser sticks by her story, describes ‘casual' affair

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By Ernie Suggs

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Ginger White, the Dunwoody woman who has said she had a long-term affair with GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain, took her story national Wednesday morning.

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Channel 2 Action News Ginger White came out Monday with allegations that for 13 years, she and the married Herman Cain maintained a 'casual' affair.

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In a five-minute interview on ABC's "Good Morning America," White said she was disappointed that Cain has now labeled her as “troubled,” and said she does not think he would be a good president, although she hedged on whether he should end his campaign.

“That is something that he has to look himself in the mirror and ask himself,” White said. “Last night, I slept very well telling the truth. I am not sure what is going on in his head right now, but it is unfortunate that any of this is going on.”

White came out Monday with allegations that for 13 years, she and the married Cain maintained a “casual” affair. It was the latest blow to Cain’s campaign that was already reeling from claims of sexual harassment by several women. Cain has denied all of the charges, including the ones from White, whom he admits to knowing and helping financially. "I have done nothing wrong," Cain told CNN.

“It is very disappointing that he would call me troubled,” White said. “I am not here to say anything negative about Mr. Cain. I am only here to state the truth about what happened in the past.”

White, appearing via satellite, stuck by her story.

“I can’t imagine waking up and deciding to come out with this if this was not true,” she said. “This has been a very difficult situation for myself, for my family. It is nothing I am proud of. The truth of the matter is, when I entered into this inappropriate relationship with Mr. Cain I was single. I was not married. Mr. Cain has been married throughout the entire relationship and it is unfortunate.”

White said the relationship was “on and off for the last 13 years.”

“It was not a consistent love affair that went on every day,” she said.

She said that for the last two-and-a-half years, she received gifts and money constantly. She admitted to financial problems, but said she has never been evicted from her apartment, adding that Cain definitely helped her financially.

Asked if he sought anything in return, White said no.

“This was not sex for cash,” White said.

Instead, she said, Cain lavished her with gifts and trips. The two met in the late 1990s in Louisville, Ky., when he ran the National Restaurant Association.

“It was a very casual affair. Am I proud to admit to that? No, I am not,” she said. “... Herman flew me to ... I went to several trips. One was the Mike Tyson– [Evander] Holyfield fight in Las Vegas. I can’t make this stuff up and wouldn’t want to make this stuff up.”

Despite showing cell phone records that show months' worth of calls and texts that she said are to and from Cain, she said she has no other physical proof of the relationship -- for a reason

“As far as any proof, when you enter into a private relationship, you really don’t enter into anything like that holding on to receipts, holding on to gifts, notes to come out eventually and say this is what happened and here is my proof,” she said.

Cain’s campaign has not commented on White’s latest appearance. But on Monday, Cain admitted that the White situation has forced him to “reassess” his campaign, while emphasizing he does not plan to drop out of the race.

Just five weeks before the Iowa caucuses, Cain, who had been a front-runner, has seen his campaign numbers plummet, behind Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich.

“I honestly do not think, in my opinion, that he would make a good president,” she said. “My views are different from his views. But at the end of the day, this is not political.”