The Hill News

Despite a series of stumbles and gaffes that have started to take a toll on his once-leading poll numbers, Herman Cain isn't wading away from hot-button issues â€" including religion and race.

At a campaign stop Monday, Cain said that he celebrated when learning his Lebanese doctor was Christian. In Iowa, he is distributing a mailer that argues he "will be the 2012 GOP nominee because he’s a descendant of slaves who can garner a large share of the black vote, he didn’t inherit a dime, he has traveled the globe for years, and he’s a believer in Jesus Christ.”

While campaigning at a Christian amusement part in Orlando, Fla., Cain told the crowd about his battle with life-threatening colon cancer. During the story, Cain explained that he had found out that his surgeon's name was Dr. Abdallah.

“I said to his physician assistant, I said, ‘That sounds foreign â€" not that I had anything against foreign doctors â€" but it sound! ed too foreign,” Cain said, according to Yahoo News. “She said, ‘He’s from Lebanon.’ Oh, Lebanon! 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!” Cain said. “Thank God!”

The crowd reportedly laughed "uneasily" about the anecdote, the latest in a series of comments that could be construed as anti-Muslim.

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