Herman Cain hospitalized with COVID-19 after attending Trump rally, team seeks prayers
Former Republican presidential candidate and businessman Herman Cain, 74, has been hospitalized with COVID-19, his team announced Thursday, just over a week after attending a rally for President Donald Trump in Tulsa.
“We are sorry to announce that Herman Cain has tested positive for COVID-19, and is currently receiving treatment in an Atlanta-area hospital. Please keep him, and all who are battling this virus, in your prayers,” a statement from Cain’s Twitter account said.
Cain’s staff further noted that they had no idea where he contracted the virus but he was notified on Monday that he tested positive for the virus and by Wednesday he had to be admitted to the hospital.
“There is no way of knowing for sure how or where Mr. Cain contracted the coronavirus, but we do know he is a fighter who has beaten Stage 4 cancer,” Cain’s staff said. “With God’s help, we are confident he will make a quick and complete recovery.”
We are sorry to announce that Herman Cain has tested positive for COVID-19, and is currently receiving treatment in an Atlanta-area hospital.
— Herman Cain (@THEHermanCain) July 2, 2020
Please keep him, and all who are battling this virus, in your prayers.
Our full statement appears below. Updates to follow. pic.twitter.com/lDRW7Rla4e
Dan Calabrese, editor of HermanCain.com, said when he got the call on Wednesday night that his boss had tested positive for the virus “it was a punch in the gut.”
“His executive assistant Lisa gave the news that he’d been taken to the hospital and that he was having trouble breathing. We all prayed for him, right then, right there. And we continued to do so throughout the evening,” Calabrese wrote in a report on HermanCain.com.
He said the team was thankful because despite being admitted to the hospital, he did not require a respirator.
“That was probably the one detail we were praying about the most, and God was gracious,” Calabrese said.
While he remained confident that his cancer-surviving boss will recover again, he took the time to note how serious the coronavirus can be and called for prayers for his recovery.
“Let’s not sugarcoat it: COVID-19 is a horrible thing to experience, and while we are sure Herman will beat it just like he beats everything, he really needs prayer right now. He’s 73 years old and just about as healthy as anyone I know, but this is really going to require all of his strength, and plenty of God’s help,” he said. “Herman will be fine. We’re also confident of that. But please lift him up in your prayers, as well as his wife Gloria and their family for strength and encouragement in getting through this.”
Here’s just a few of the #BlackVoicesForTrump at tonight’s rally! Having a fantastic time!#TulsaRally2020#Trumptulsa#TulsaTrumprally#MAGA#Trump2020#Trump2020Landslidepic.twitter.com/27mUzkg7kL
— Herman Cain (@THEHermanCain) June 20, 2020
Cain recently attend President Trump's campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where his team tweeted a photo of him with a group of supporters inside the Tulsa Arena. No one in the photo was wearing a mask. Just hours before the event, six staff members at the site had tested positive for the virus. Two more advance staffers tested positive after returning to Washington, The Washington Post reported, and dozens of Secret Service agents on the trip were ordered to self-quarantine at home because two of the staff who tested positive in Tulsa were Secret Service employees.
Calabrese noted that even though Cain also attended the rally in Tulsa, he could have gotten the virus from other places.
“By the way, since I know there will be questions: We honestly have no idea where he contracted it. I realize people will speculate about the Tulsa rally, but Herman did a lot of traveling the past week, including to Arizona where cases are spiking,” he said. “I don’t think there’s any way to trace this to the one specific contact that caused him to be infected. We’ll never know.”