Former GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain dies a month after hospitalization for coronavirus

Herman Cain, the businessman turned Republican politician and commentator, died Thursday after contracting COVID-19. He was 74.

"We knew when he was first hospitalized with COVID-19 that this was going to be a rough fight," Dan Calabrese, the editor of Cain's blog HermainCain.com, wrote in a Thursday morning post. Cain tested positive for COVID-19 after attending President Trump's rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and was hospitalized earlier this month after having trouble breathing. He was considered especially at risk because he had survived cancer in the past.

Just a few days ago, "doctors told us they thought he would eventually recover, although it wouldn't be quick," Calabrese wrote. His team shared that news across social media. But Cain "never quite seemed to get to the point where the doctors could advance him to the recovery phase," Calabrese continued.

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Cain led several food companies before shifting to politics, most notably Godfather's Pizza. He is best known for his 2012 Republican run for president, where he pushed an ultra-simple "9-9-9" tax plan. He withdrew after claims of sexual harassment from two women, which he denied.

Trump nominated Cain, a former chair of the Kansas City Federal Reserve Board, for a spot on the U.S. Federal Reserve Board just last year. He withdrew from consideration after it appeared he would not get the Senate's approval. He had just started hosting a show on the right-wing network NewsMax.