"Herman Cain, former Republican presidential hopeful, has died of coronavirus, his website says
<section>Herman Cain, the former pizza chain executive who sought the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, has died weeks after testing positive for the coronavirus.
“You’re never ready for the kind of news we are grappling with this morning,” Dan Calabrese, the editor of Cain’s website, wrote in a statement Thursday. “Herman Cain — our boss, our friend, like a father to so many of us — has passed away.”
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Calabrese confirmed the death to The Washington Post and said the cause was covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
Although it is unclear where Cain, who was 74, contracted the disease, he was among several thousand people, most of whom did not wear masks, who attended a Trump campaign rally in Tulsa on June 20. Cain, who co-chaired Black Voices for Trump, was photographed maskless and not socially distancing at the event.
Cain is one of the most prominent Americans to have died of the virus, which has claimed more than 150,000 lives in the United States. Word of his death comes amid a heightened focus on how seriously Republicans have taken advice from medical experts.
On Wednesday, Rep. Louie Goh*mert (R-Tex.), who had been seen walking the halls of the U.S. Capitol without a mask and not socially distancing, announced that he had tested positive shortly before a planned Air Force One flight with President Trump.
...Cain was hospitalized less than two weeks after attending Trump’s campaign rally in Tulsa. Before being hospitalized, he advertised in a tweet that masks would not be required at an Independence Day celebration that Trump staged at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota.
“PEOPLE ARE FED UP!” Cain wrote.
An update posted on Cain’s Twitter feed three weeks ago said he was “still in an Atlanta-area hospital, where doctors are trying to make sure his oxygen levels are right.”
“This is a tough virus, but we serve a tougher God. Herman wants to get back in action soon, so please continue praying,” the tweet said.
Bob Jack, chairman of the Tulsa County Republican Party, said the party was actively seeking to speak with those who had met with Cain at Trump’s rally in Tulsa, where he was photographed sitting with other Black Republicans without a mask and not practicing social distancing.
...The June 20 rally was widely derided by public health officials, and its more than 6,000 participants largely eschewed masks and did not sit in a socially distanced way; in fact, placards placed on every other seat to ensure social distancing were removed before the rally started. Several Secret Service agents and advance staff tested positive before the rally. Tulsa’s health director, Bruce Dart, later said the rally “likely” contributed to a spike in Tulsa’s covid cases.
“It was reckless for the event to have been held,” said state Rep. Regina Goodwin, a Democrat who represents the Tulsa area. “The death of Herman Cain is evidence of that recklessness and the insensitivity of Donald Trump. Unfortunately Herman Cain died, but he chose to attend the rally without a mask . . . basically that is a life, a human being who should not be dead.”
...During his bid for the 2012 Republican nomination, ultimately won by Mitt Romney, Cain became known for his simplified tax plan, known as Nine-Nine-Nine, and for complaints that he sexually harassed women.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...c62a10-d273-11ea-9038-af089b63ac21_story.html
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<section>Herman Cain, the former pizza chain executive who sought the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, has died weeks after testing positive for the coronavirus.
“You’re never ready for the kind of news we are grappling with this morning,” Dan Calabrese, the editor of Cain’s website, wrote in a statement Thursday. “Herman Cain — our boss, our friend, like a father to so many of us — has passed away.”
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Calabrese confirmed the death to The Washington Post and said the cause was covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
Although it is unclear where Cain, who was 74, contracted the disease, he was among several thousand people, most of whom did not wear masks, who attended a Trump campaign rally in Tulsa on June 20. Cain, who co-chaired Black Voices for Trump, was photographed maskless and not socially distancing at the event.
Cain is one of the most prominent Americans to have died of the virus, which has claimed more than 150,000 lives in the United States. Word of his death comes amid a heightened focus on how seriously Republicans have taken advice from medical experts.
On Wednesday, Rep. Louie Goh*mert (R-Tex.), who had been seen walking the halls of the U.S. Capitol without a mask and not socially distancing, announced that he had tested positive shortly before a planned Air Force One flight with President Trump.
...Cain was hospitalized less than two weeks after attending Trump’s campaign rally in Tulsa. Before being hospitalized, he advertised in a tweet that masks would not be required at an Independence Day celebration that Trump staged at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota.
“PEOPLE ARE FED UP!” Cain wrote.
An update posted on Cain’s Twitter feed three weeks ago said he was “still in an Atlanta-area hospital, where doctors are trying to make sure his oxygen levels are right.”
“This is a tough virus, but we serve a tougher God. Herman wants to get back in action soon, so please continue praying,” the tweet said.
Bob Jack, chairman of the Tulsa County Republican Party, said the party was actively seeking to speak with those who had met with Cain at Trump’s rally in Tulsa, where he was photographed sitting with other Black Republicans without a mask and not practicing social distancing.
...The June 20 rally was widely derided by public health officials, and its more than 6,000 participants largely eschewed masks and did not sit in a socially distanced way; in fact, placards placed on every other seat to ensure social distancing were removed before the rally started. Several Secret Service agents and advance staff tested positive before the rally. Tulsa’s health director, Bruce Dart, later said the rally “likely” contributed to a spike in Tulsa’s covid cases.
“It was reckless for the event to have been held,” said state Rep. Regina Goodwin, a Democrat who represents the Tulsa area. “The death of Herman Cain is evidence of that recklessness and the insensitivity of Donald Trump. Unfortunately Herman Cain died, but he chose to attend the rally without a mask . . . basically that is a life, a human being who should not be dead.”
...During his bid for the 2012 Republican nomination, ultimately won by Mitt Romney, Cain became known for his simplified tax plan, known as Nine-Nine-Nine, and for complaints that he sexually harassed women.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...c62a10-d273-11ea-9038-af089b63ac21_story.html
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