Palin: I Know What Cain Is Going Through

This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," December 1, 2011. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

SEAN HANNITY, HOST: The battle for the Republican nomination continues to heat up. The former speaker of the House appeared last night on this program and declared that he is more conservative than Mitt Romney.

Now meanwhile today in a stunning poll released by Rasmussen Reports, Speaker Gingrich is now at the top of the GOP field with 38 percent of the vote. Governor Romney trails with -- 17 percent followed by Herman Cain and Ron Paul who both received eight percent.

And joining me now with analysis is former Alaska governor, Fox News contributor, Sarah Palin.

Governor, how are you? It's getting cold up there.

SARAH PALIN, FORMER GOVERNOR OF ALASKA: I'm doing great. It's beautiful.

HANNITY: How -- beautiful? But how cold is it?

PALIN: It's warm today. It's in the 20s. So there's a lot to do outdoors. And yes, as I said, it's absolutely gorgeous.

HANNITY: All right. I hope you were just listening to Herman Cain. There's a bigger issue in play here because long before the issue of sexual harassment and this most recent charge came up, he was being called all sorts of names, and the media seems to just be willing to do this and go along with this.

You have experienced this as a conservative woman. Why is -- why do we live now at a time of political correctness, yet if you're a conservative, you're a woman, you're an African-American conservative, you can say anything you want, nobody seems to care?

PALIN: Yes, isn't that something? Well, we need to not be afraid of being accused of being racist just because we call out, for instance, Obama and his socialist policies, and his associations and his past record that prove that he would seek to fundamentally transform America.

We cannot be afraid of what the name calling will do to us. But yes, you're spot on when you talk about the hypocrisy and the double standards in the media.

You know in regard to Herman Cain and what he is going through, I'll tell you, Sean, in many voters' book, including mine, character counts. And if Herman Cain did not engage in this recent 13-year affair, no screwing around on his wife and giving money to some broad on the side unbeknownst to his wife, well, then, if he did not do this, then the false accuser is really despicable and we shouldn't have to put up with that kind of false accusation that results in somebody's character being so besmirched and really ruined.

HANNITY: Yes.

PALIN: If he did do it, though, Sean, if he did it, if he engaged in this recent affair and is misleading the public, then, you know, like they say, boys will be boys, but they shouldn't run the country. And it's going to be refreshing when facts come out on this so that people can make up their mind, make their own judgment on this, and then we can move on and start talking about the issues that really matter.

HANNITY: Yes.

PALIN: And that is the reform that is needed in Congress and in the White House.

HANNITY: Well -- if the media only gave as much scrutiny to Obama in 2008, you got to wonder if there might have been a different outcome. He's so adamant in his denial, though, and that's why I was a little surprised when he said -- it's not a time to play detective. But it seems to me that this charge, 13 years, if he's flying women around the country and he's showing up in hotels with them over this long period of time, that this is easily proven or disproven. No?

PALIN: Yes. And maybe I'm a little bit more sympathetic to what Herman Cain is going through right now, because as you suggest, you know, I've been through it also.

I have had people who have sworn on a Bible that they have had affairs with Todd or had affairs with me or one specific one was a masseuse that she massaged me when I was seven months pregnant and she could tell that I wasn't pregnant, hence, Trigg was not my kid. And that resulted in this whole Trigg truther issue that I still deal with every day.

I've had these liars out there trying to ruin my family and my reputation and my record. So I know what Herman Cain is going through. But again, as I say --

HANNITY: Yes, we don't know.

PALIN: -- if he did engage in these improprieties and is misleading the public, well, that's a whole other story then.

HANNITY: You know, I've spent a lot of time, Governor, around Herman Cain and I have known him for over a decade. It would be so out of character for the guy that I have seen in public, around people -- it would -- it would be shocking to me. But I've got to believe that there would be airline tickets, that there would be purchases, that there'd be hotel rooms, that they'd be in somebody's name, and there might even be videotape in this day and age.

So what I would -- perhaps maybe I just think about it differently that he's thinking about but I personally would go about the business of saying, all right, when, where, show me tickets, who paid for them? When did we meet? You know, I think this could be easily disproven. Maybe I'm --

SARAH PALIN, FORMER ALASKA GOVERNOR: Exactly. The reality is, Sean, whether he likes it or not, unfortunately, in this day and age of media bias, he is guilty until proven innocent.

And that is unfortunate, it's not fair, but he's going to have to prove he hasn't carried on with this woman for 13 years and he does that exactly by what you're saying. Have her through legal channels if need be to fess up and show the proof, show the text messages and show the e-mails, show the receipts of he having flown her around to boxing match and to these events that she claims she had the affairs with him at. Prove it.

Otherwise, unfortunately, this is such a distraction that supporters back off, right? They back off. The money starts drying up. And Herman Cain will not have a chance in heck to start progressing anymore than he had already.

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