Accusing Cain

Herman Cain on Tuesday vigorously denied new claims of sexual harassment, calling a press conference in Arizona to declare the latest alleged incident "simply did not happen." The Republican presidential candidate said he didn't even recognize the woman, Sharon Bialek, who a day earlier claimed he made unwanted sexual advances toward her 14 years ago.

"The charges and the accusations, I absolutely reject. They simply didn't happen. They simply did not happen," Cain said. Cain, reading slowly and deliberately from notes for 10 minutes before taking questions from the media, said he has "never acted inappropriately with anyone -- period." Declaring that he will stay in the 2012 race, Cain specifically addressed the charges leveled most recently by Bialek. Though Bialek said Cain sexually harassed her when she came to him about a job while he was heading the National Restaurant Association, Cain said that he was seeing her "for the very first time" when he watched her press conference on Monday.

On Tuesday, Cain at first blamed the "Democrat machine" for bringing forward Bialek, a woman whom he described as "troubled" -- she has a history of financial problems, though she says she hasn't been offered money for coming forward. Pressed by Fox News to elaborate, Cain conceded he doesn't know who might be behind the allegations.

"We can only infer that someone is basically trying to wreck my character," Cain said.