Former Godfather’s Pizza CEO Herman Cain on Sunday blamed a failure to secure a critical social conservative endorsement on “false accusations” and statements taken out of context.

Asked by host Candy Crowley on CNN’s “State of the Union” about the Iowa Family Leader’s refusal to endorse him, citing confusion about his position on life and marriage, Cain denied that his positions were anything but clear.

“Obviously, false accusations and confusion about some of my positions has contributed to it, and that was to be expected,” the Republican presidential candidate said. “In terms of the mechanics of the campaign, nothing has gone wrong.”

Responding to the suggestion that in a recent interview, he supported a “pro-choice” position on abortion if the life of the mother is at risk, Cain said that his words were taken out of context.

“The interview where it was taken out of context was a hypothetical situation,” Cain said.

But he acknowledged that in the interview, he did say that if the life of the mother is at risk, the decision to get an abortion should be left up to the mother.

“The poor choice of words, in retrospect, then got later blown out,” Cain said.

New Hampshire Union Leader and POLITICO are sharing content for the 2012 presidential campaign cycle.