Herman Cain faced a backlash today over his admission that he was worried about being treated by his cancer doctor because he “sounded too foreign.”
The Republican presidential candidate said he was worried the physician – a Dr. Abdallah – was not Christian after learning he came from Lebanon. After being told his doctor was, indeed, a Christian, Cain said he whooped: “Hallelujah! Thank God!”
The one-time GOP frontrunner, now 66, was talking about his battle with Sage IV colon cancer. He was diagnosed in 2006 but now says he is cancer free.
It is not the first time that Cain, a devout Baptist, has made controversial remarks aimed at Muslims. He was criticized earlier this year after he said he wouldn’t be “comfortable” in appointing Muslims to his Cabinet if he is elected to the White House, but later backtracked to insist he meant extremists.
Speaking at The Holy Land Experience, a religious-themed theme park in Orlando, Florida over the weekend, he told supporters about his initial unease when he first met Dr. Abdallah.
“I said to his physician assistant, I said “That sounds foreign” – not that I had anything against foreign doctors – but it sounded too foreign,” said Cain.
The former Godfather’s Pizza boss said the assistant eased his fears after telling him the doctor hailed from Lebanon, reported Yahoo News.
“Oh Lebanon!” he said. “My mind immediately started thinking, wait a minute, maybe his religious persuasion is different than mine. She could see the look on my face and she said, ‘Don’t worry, Mr. Cain, he’s a Christian from Lebanon’.”
“Hallelujah!” he said he replied. “Thank God!”