In a speech at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., GOP presidential hopeful Herman Cain denied that he had sexually harassed women who worked with him at the National Restaurant Association in the 1990's, labeling stories about the matter a "witch hunt."

"I have never sexually harassed anyone," Cain said flatly.

"Those accusations are totally false," Cain added.

The straightforward approach came after what seemed more like non-denial denials from his campaign spokesman on Sunday evening, as Cain tried to deflate a story from Politico that some think could endanger his campaign for the White House.

"I really know what it feels like to be number one," Cain said to laughter as he acknowledged that the bulls-eye is now on his back as a leader in the GOP polls.

While Cain denied any wrongdoing, he seemed to leave open one avenue of inquiry when he said he had no knowledge of any financial settlement that the National Restaurant Association reportedly paid to deal with their claims that Cain sexually harassed them.

"I'm not aware of any settlement that came out of that accusation," said Cain, who indicated that he had recused himself from any proceedings before the Restaurant Association board.

It wasn't immediately clear where this story would go next, as Cain used most of his speech to talk about regular campaign topics, dinging President Obama on a host of issues along the way.

The format actually played in Cain's favor dramatically, as instead of a news conference with reporters yelling and asking the same question over and over again, the Press Club used its usual setup where only the moderator askes questions distilled from the audience.

Because of that, Cain only faced a few minutes on this hot topic, and then it was off to other matters.

"Enough said about the issue," Cain argued, "there is nothing else there to dig up."