Today, Herman Cain is desperately trying to brush off the report that he paid a large amount of money to two women to keep them quiet about charges that he sexually harassed them; he’s so upset he’s talking about himself in the third person: Cain Says ‘Herman Is Going to Stay Herman’ as Allegations Swirl.

“Yes, I was falsely accused while I was at the National Restaurant Association — and I say falsely because it turned out after the investigation to be baseless,” Cain said on Fox News on Monday morning, his first direct response to the question of whether he had been accused of harassment.

He added: “It is totally baseless and totally false. Never have I committed any sort of sexual harassment.”

Politico reported Sunday night that the association paid five-figure settlements to two women to settle their claims that Cain sexually harassed them.

But Cain claimed he had no knowledge of any settlements. “If the restaurant association did a settlement, I was not even aware of it,” he said. “And I hope it wasn’t for much, because I was not even aware of it.”

It’s pretty clear that he’s laying the groundwork for an eventual admission that the reports are true; he knows the settlements are going to come out, so he’s setting up the excuse that it happened without his knowledge.

Which is just laughable.