Former Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain has died after being hospitalized for coronavirus

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• Former GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain has died, according to his official website and the conservative website Newsmax. He was 74.
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• Cain tested positive for the novel coronavirus earlier this month, 11 days after attending President Donald Trump's campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
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• He tweeted a photo of himself at the rally where neither he nor those surrounding him were wearing masks.
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• The day before he was hospitalized, Cain sent a tweet expressing support for the Trump campaign's decision not to require masks at a July 4 Independence Day celebration held at Mount Rushmore.
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• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The former Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain has died after being hospitalized for the novel coronavirus. He was 74 when he died.

"Cain, who recently joined Newsmax TV and was set to launch a weekly show, died in an Atlanta-area hospital where he had been critically ill for several weeks," the conservative website Newsmax, where Cain was a contributor, reported. "He was admitted on July 1, two days after being diagnosed with COVID-19."

Cain's official website also announced the news in a blog post.

"Herman Cain - our boss, our friend, like a father to so many of us - has passed away," wrote Dan Calabrese, an editor for the website. "He's entering the presence of the Savior he's served as an associate minister at Antioch Baptist Church in Atlanta for, and preparing for his reward."

It's unclear how Cain contracted COVID-19. He tested positive for the disease 11 days after attending a campaign rally for President Donald Trump in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Cain, who was an ardent Trump supporter, tweeted out a photo of himself at the rally where neither he, nor those surrounding him, were wearing masks.

-Herman Cain (@THEHermanCain) June 20, 2020

Two days after Cain announced he tested positive for COVID-19, he sent a tweet expressing support for the Trump campaign's decision not to require masks at a July 4 Independence Day celebration held at Mount Rushmore.

"Masks will not be mandatory for the event, which will be attended by President Trump. PEOPLE ARE FED UP!" Cain tweeted the day before he was hospitalized.

Cain's Twitter account sent multiple updates about his condition after he was admitted.

A July 5 tweet from his account said he was "making progress." Two days later, another tweet said "doctors are trying to make sure his oxygen levels are right."

On Monday, his account tweeted that Cain was still being given oxygen in the hospital, but that his "other organs and systems are strong" and that he "really is getting better."

-Herman Cain (@THEHermanCain) July 5, 2020

-Herman Cain (@THEHermanCain) July 10, 2020

Lawmakers and allies of Cain's expressed sadness about his death on Thursday.

"Saddened that Herman Cain-a formidable champion of business, politics and policy-has lost his battle with Covid," Sen. Mitt Romney, a Utah Republican, tweeted. "St. Peter will soon hear "999!" Keep up the fight, my friend."

As a 2012 presidential candidate, Cain was perhaps best known for his "9-9-9" tax proposal, which advocated a 9% income tax, a 9% federal sales tax, and a 9% business-transaction tax.

Trump considered Cain for a Federal Reserve seat in April 2019. But his nomination attempt fell through after previous sexual harassment allegations against him surfaced.

Cain, a former CEO of Godfather's Pizza, denied the allegations and said he withdrew from consideration because he would have had to take a significant pay cut for the role.