President Trump on Thursday mourned the death of Herman Cain, who died earlier in the day of complications from COVID-19, calling the businessman and former presidential candidate “an American Patriot, and great friend.”
The president tweeted that he spoke to Cain’s family to express his condolences.
“My friend Herman Cain, a Powerful Voice of Freedom and all that is good, passed away this morning,” he tweeted. “Herman had an incredible career and was adored by everyone that ever met him, especially me.”
Cain died at the age of 74 nearly a month after he was hospitalized with COVID-19. He was admitted to the hospital 10 days after he attended Trump’s campaign rally in Tulsa, Okla., where he was seen seated in the stands without a mask.
Cain had said he did not know exactly how or when he contracted the virus, but local health officials attributed a subsequent rise in cases in the area to the Trump rally where thousands of people gathered without masks and with minimal social distancing.
More than 150,000 people in the U.S. have died from the coronavirus.
The former CEO of Godfather’s Pizza, Cain ran an unsuccessful presidential campaign in 2012 and was briefly considered by Trump to serve on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.
Cain was a co-chair of Black Voices for Trump, a subset of the Trump campaign focused on outreach to African Americans.
Vice President Pence also offered his condolences, tweeting that Cain “was a success in business, an indispensable voice for the Conservative movement and he will be deeply missed.”