Breaking his silence for the first time regarding allegations of sexual harassment facing fellow GOP candidate Herman Cain, Mitt Romney said today that questions about Cain’s truthfulness should be directed toward the Cain campaign.

In an interview with Denver television station KUSA, Romney was asked if he thought Cain was “being forthcoming and transparent enough regarding the allegations that have surfaced that he sexually harassed two women?”

“You know, I really don’t have any information about Herman Cain’s setting,” Romney responded. “I’ve only seen what’s been on TV and what I’ve read in the newspapers, so all the questions relating to his … issue there, I think have to be addressed to him and his campaign.”

Romney and his campaign have, until now, declined to comment on the allegations against Cain.

In a subsequent interview with ABC News’ Houston affiliate KTRK, Romney was asked again about the ugly side of politics in light of Cain’s troubles this week.

“Unfortunately. the [politics of personal destruction] has been a hallmark of campaigns going back to the very first one,” said Romney, who never mentioned Cain by name to KTRK. “It’s really unfortunate. It’s one of the real downsides I think people consider when they imagine themselves running for political office. I think it keeps a lot of people out of running for political office.”

“I’ve been through this before,” he added, “I know the DNC is going to attack me, and the various interest groups that support them will attack me from morning to night, but fundamentally I think the American people will look past the silly attacks and ask themselves who can actually get America going again?”

Romney said that despite being dubbed by many as the “inevitable” GOP nominee, he still considers himself to be a “guy battling to try and get this nomination.”

“I’ve learned enough about politics over the years to know there is a lot of up and down,” said Romney. “People are giving it a very careful look. There are a lot of people running for president this time and the American people want to get to know them very, very well.

“I hope to be able to get more and more support as time goes on. This is going to be a battle all the way to the very end,” he said, before adding that he is prepared to support whichever candidate wins the nomination.

Asked about his stance on a flat tax during the interview, Romney responded that “there is no question that tax policies have an impact of lightening the load on Americans as well as stimulating the economy.”

“I’m focusing my tax plan on helping the people who have been hurt the most by the Obama economy — and that’s the middle class,” he said. “Some other proposals out there have merit to them. One of the concerns I have with the other proposals is that they tend to raise taxes on middle-income Americans.”

The interview also included a swipe at Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who was the focus of a new Web video released by the Romney campaign today. Romney told KTRK that he and Perry “disagree with regards to in-state tuition breaks for illegal immigrants” and that he believes Perry took the “wrong course on that one.”