Former GOP presidential candidate, Herman Cain, one of the few African American presidential candidates that made it in the running, has died. He died roughly a month after he became sick with the novel coronavirus disease, his team announced on Thursday morning. He was 74.
“We knew when he was first hospitalized with COVID-19 that this was going to be a rough fight,” Cain’s friend Dan Calabrese wrote in that update on Thursday. “He had trouble breathing and was taken to the hospital by ambulance. We all prayed that the initial meds they gave him would get his breathing back to normal, but it became clear pretty quickly that he was in for a battle.”
Many believe that the former Godfather’s Pizza and Burger King restaurant executive-turned-politician contracted the virus after attending President Trump’s June 20 rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Cain was the chair of the Black Voters for Trump. The large gathering that many health officials believe is linked to the sharp increase of COVID positive cases in the state. Many of the attendees there, including Cain, were seen without masks or social distancing.
Many report that Cain had been opposed to wearing a mask and other restrictions to flatten the curve against COVID-19.
Cain had been hospitalized in Atlanta on July 1, two days after being told he had tested positive for Covid-19, according to a statement posted to his social media accounts at the time.
He did not require a respirator and was “awake and alert” when he checked in to the hospital, the statement said. “Please join with us in praying for Mr. Cain, and for everyone who has contracted the coronavirus – as well as their families,” it said.
Cain was diagnosed in 2006 with stage 4 colon cancer that metastasized to his liver and was given a 30 percent chance of survival. He successfully underwent chemotherapy and had been in remission since.
Cain, who ran successful food chains like Burger King and Godfather’s Pizza and served as chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, was shot into the spotlight in 2012 when he launched a bid to be the Republican presidential nominee. While he had a respectable following, his campaign was tanked when he was accused of sexual harassment and misconduct during his time as CEO of the National Restaurant Association in the late 1990s. He denied all the claims but ended up dropped out of the race anyway.
In 2019, Trump briefly considered picking Cain as his nominee to join the Federal Reserve Board. Cain remained a vocal supporter of Trump’s after his nomination was withdrawn.
Cain is survived by his wife, Gloria, children Vincent and Melanie and their three grandchildren.
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