Herman Cain, a pizza business magnate who unsuccessfully ran for the 2012 Republican Party nomination for president, has died Thursday due to complications from coronavirus.
Cain had tested positive for COVID-19 on June 29. Just two days later, he was hospitalized after developing “serious” symptoms of the disease, according to a message that appeared on his Twitter account in early July.
“There is no way of knowing for sure how or where Mr. Cain contracted the coronavirus,” a statement on Cain’s website said about his hospitalization.
Cain, an ardent supporter of President Donald Trump, had attended a campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, held by the president on June 20. The event was widely criticized for not enforcing social distancing recommendations, as many participants, Cain included, were seen not wearing masks or observing six-feet distancing standards to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
Here’s just a few of the #BlackVoicesForTrump at tonight’s rally! Having a fantastic time!#TulsaRally2020 #Trumptulsa #TulsaTrumprally #MAGA #Trump2020 #Trump2020Landslide pic.twitter.com/27mUzkg7kL
— The Cain Gang (@THEHermanCain) June 20, 2020
While it’s not clear whether Cain became ill from the disease due to the rally, his diagnosis and hospitalization would fit a timeline of him doing so around the date that it happened. Tulsa health officials have said that large events, like Trump’s campaign rally, likely facilitated a spike in cases of coronavirus in the county where it was held.
At least eight campaign staffers contracted the disease after the event was held, and Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, who was in attendance without a mask on as well, also tested positive for it.
Cain, a staunch conservative who was supported by the Koch brothers over the years, entered the race for president in 2011, hoping to be the Republican choice for the election against then-President Barack Obama the following year. However, a series of sexual harassment allegations prompted him to drop out of the race before the first primary election.
Truthout Is Preparing to Meet Trump’s Agenda With Resistance at Every Turn
Dear Truthout Community,
If you feel rage, despondency, confusion and deep fear today, you are not alone. We’re feeling it too. We are heartsick. Facing down Trump’s fascist agenda, we are desperately worried about the most vulnerable people among us, including our loved ones and everyone in the Truthout community, and our minds are racing a million miles a minute to try to map out all that needs to be done.
We must give ourselves space to grieve and feel our fear, feel our rage, and keep in the forefront of our mind the stark truth that millions of real human lives are on the line. And simultaneously, we’ve got to get to work, take stock of our resources, and prepare to throw ourselves full force into the movement.
Journalism is a linchpin of that movement. Even as we are reeling, we’re summoning up all the energy we can to face down what’s coming, because we know that one of the sharpest weapons against fascism is publishing the truth.
There are many terrifying planks to the Trump agenda, and we plan to devote ourselves to reporting thoroughly on each one and, crucially, covering the movements resisting them. We also recognize that Trump is a dire threat to journalism itself, and that we must take this seriously from the outset.
Last week, the four of us sat down to have some hard but necessary conversations about Truthout under a Trump presidency. How would we defend our publication from an avalanche of far right lawsuits that seek to bankrupt us? How would we keep our reporters safe if they need to cover outbreaks of political violence, or if they are targeted by authorities? How will we urgently produce the practical analysis, tools and movement coverage that you need right now — breaking through our normal routines to meet a terrifying moment in ways that best serve you?
It will be a tough, scary four years to produce social justice-driven journalism. We need to deliver news, strategy, liberatory ideas, tools and movement-sparking solutions with a force that we never have had to before. And at the same time, we desperately need to protect our ability to do so.
We know this is such a painful moment and donations may understandably be the last thing on your mind. But we must ask for your support, which is needed in a new and urgent way.
We promise we will kick into an even higher gear to give you truthful news that cuts against the disinformation and vitriol and hate and violence. We promise to publish analyses that will serve the needs of the movements we all rely on to survive the next four years, and even build for the future. We promise to be responsive, to recognize you as members of our community with a vital stake and voice in this work.
Please dig deep if you can, but a donation of any amount will be a truly meaningful and tangible action in this cataclysmic historical moment.
We’re with you. Let’s do all we can to move forward together.
With love, rage, and solidarity,
Maya, Negin, Saima, and Ziggy