GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain sat down for a talk with Jay Leno Friday night on NBC's "The Tonight Show."
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Cain addressed statements made by Sarah Palin in which the former Alaska governor mistakenly called Cain "Herb Cain" and referred to him as the "flavor of the week." Palin's comments were made during an appearance Tuesday night on Fox News' "On The Record" with Greta Van Susteren. On Wednesday morning, Cain appeared on CBS' "Early Show" and characterized Palin's "flavor of the week" comment as "not true."
The former Godfather's Pizza CEO joked with Leno that "she [Palin] doesn't know that only my enemies call me 'Herb,' so I'm gonna forgive her this time." Referring to Palin's "flavor of the week" comment, Cain said that although the label "might be true with some people," he has "substance" and compared himself to Häagen-Dazs Ice Cream. "I'm Häagen-Dazs Black Walnut," joked Cain. He went on to say that the aforementioned ice cream, and by implication his own time in the media spotlight, "lasts longer than a week."
Appearing Thursday night on Fox Business Network's "Freedom Watch" with Andrew Napolitano, Palin defended her "flavor of the week" comment. She explained, "I'm not saying that Herman Cain is the flavor of the week. I'm one of his biggest fans, and I would never dismiss him or speak negatively about him."
During his "Tonight Show" interview, Cain also discussed a previous statement about the potential of having a Muslim work in his administration. HuffPost's Elise Foley previously reported that "In May, Cain said he would not allow a Muslim to work in his cabinet because of 'creeping Shariah law.'" The GOP contender later apologized to Muslim leaders for his remarks.
Leno said that Cain's comment about not appointing a Muslim to his cabinet "doesn't seem very American." Cain clarified that he "would not appoint a jihadist" to his administration. He continued:
"I wanted to drive home the point that there are peaceful Muslims, and then there are those that want to kill us. And I basically, when I was asked that question, I did answer, would you appoint a Muslim, and I said no. I was thinking jihadist, and I did not qualify that point, but I qualified it later."
Cain concluded, "there are a lot of fine, peaceful Muslims that are willing and have served their country."