Herman Cain huddled with Henry Kissinger in New York on Thursday, discussing foreign policy with the elder statesman. According to Mark Block, Cain’s chief of staff, the former secretary of state also commented on Cain’s notorious campaign video, which shows Block smoking.
“Halfway through Mr. Cain’s conversation, Doctor Kissinger turns and points to me and says, ‘That smoking thing you did was brilliant.’ I sat there thinking, Dr. Henry Kissinger just said something I did was brilliant,” Block says. “We all got a good chuckle.”
Block adds that Kissinger was impressed by Cain’s questions. “He told him that he meets with any candidate who wants to get his views. But he told Mr. Cain that most come in and ask about what they should say on the Sunday shows. Mr. Cain, he pointed out, asked what he should do when he is president — a different kind of approach for this kind of meeting.”
The meeting, which lasted over an hour, covered a variety of topics, Block says. China, the Middle East, Libya, Iraq, and Afghanistan, among other hot spots, featured in the conversation.