Ex-Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain dies of Covid-19 after attending Trump's rally without mask
Former Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain died from the coronavirus at the age of 74, weeks after attending Trump's rally in Tulsa without a mask on June 20.
The news of his death was broken on Thursday, July 30, by Newsmax, a conservative media company he had recently joined. He had been critically ill for several weeks and had been admitted to an Atlanta-area hospital. He was being treated for Covid-19 since July 1. He was diagnosed positive with the virus just ten days after Cain had attended a rally for Trump in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Two days after testing positive, he was hospitalized.
Although it cannot be said for sure where Cain contracted the virus since the chair of Black Voices for Trump had a hectic travel schedule in June, stopping in multiple cities, the POTUS was heavily criticized for holding the rally last month after eight members of the advance team tested positive for the coronavirus and the campaign staff had to self-isolate afterward to be extra cautious of possible infection.
At the time he had tweeted a photo of himself in the stands of the rally with the words: ''Here’s just a few of the #BlackVoicesForTrump at tonight’s rally! Having a fantastic time!'' Despite being a cancer survivor as well as in the high-risk group for the virus because of his age, he was seen not wearing a mask during the event nor following social distancing protocols in the photo.
The president came under fire at the time for choosing to hold a rally as coronavirus cases were rising in Oklahoma. Only 6,200 people attended the event although the BOK Center, where the rally took place, ad a capacity of 19,000. When the event did not turn into the campaign comeback that Trump had hoped for he reportedly threw a fit, although the White House denied any anger on his part.
The Washington Post reported at the time that Trump's the campaign directed the removal of thousands of “Do Not Sit Here, Please!” stickers from seats in the arena, and which were part of the BOK Center's safety plan to establish social distancing norms among the rally-attendees. The BOK center had purchased 12,000 do-not-sit stickers for the 19,000-seat arena in downtown Tulsa where Trump held his rally. They had already started affixing the stickers on every other seat at the arena on the day of the event, with the goal that there would one empty seat between two attendees. However, a person who spoke to the publication on the condition of anonymity, said that Trump’s campaign told event management to stop and then began removing the stickers, hours prior to the president’s arrival.
Cain, the ex-CEO of Godfather's Pizza and former chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, ran for the 2012 presidential nomination. Although he had a good shot with his catchy 9-9-9 tax plan and strong debate performances, his hopes of earning a presidential nomination were dashed in November 2011, when he faced allegations of sexual misconduct. Despite denying all the allegations, he suspended his campaign in December of the same year.
In 2019, Trump nominated Cain to Federal Reserve Board. But the nomination was criticized by Congress and Cain’s detractors.“Because I ran as a Republican for president and the United States Senate, and because I am an outspoken voice of conservatism, an outspoken voice of the Constitution and the laws, I’m being attacked,” Cain said, shortly before asking the president to withdraw his nomination.
Many of the lawmakers that he worked with, paid their respects to Cain after his death. ''Herman Cain embodied the American Dream and represented the very best of the American spirit,'' tweeted White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany Thursday. ''Our hearts grieve for his loved ones, and they will remain in our prayers at this time. We will never forget his legacy of grace, patriotism, and faith.''