President Donald Trump felt immediate backlash on Thursday after a former Republican presidential candidate who attended his Tulsa campaign rally died from COVID-19.

Representatives for Herman Cain confirmed that the 74-year-old former GOP candidate died this week from complications due to COVID-19. Cain was thought to have contracted the disease while attending Trump’s recent rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Twitter users swiftly blamed the president for Cain’s death.

“Herman Cain’s death has gotta be on Trump’s hands, right?” one person asked.

“There is no way to spin this,” Dave Zirin noted.

“Basically, Donald Trump killed Herman Cain,” Roland Scahill lamented.

Read some of the responses to Cain’s death below.

herman cain's death's gotta be on trump's hands right? not that it matters even an iota to him

— adrian (@Crawf33) July 30, 2020

My goodness. Herman Cain has died of COVID, sacrificed at the altar of @realDonaldTrump's maskless Tulsa rally. There's no way to spin this.

— Dave Zirin (@EdgeofSports) July 30, 2020

dude if you die because you went to a trump rally that is really sad, i can't even make a joke about that. herman cain died of coronavirus at the age of 74 because he went to the trump rally in tulsa.

— hasanabi (@hasanthehun) July 30, 2020

So @parscale and @realDonaldTrump got Herman Cain killed by covid from the Tulsa rally.

— melissa BIDEN PLS CANCEL ALL STUDENT DEBT byrne (@mcbyrne) July 30, 2020

Herman Cain went to Trump’s Tulsa rally and went to a hospital with COVID not long after

— David Lee Matthews (@DavidLMatthews) July 30, 2020

Holy shit, Herman Cain died of coronavirus, which I believe he caught at Trump's Tulsa rally? Dear god

— David Pakman (@dpakman) July 30, 2020

Pay attention.

Trump's morning tweet about postponing the election makes more sense now.

As President, he would have been told about Herman Cain's death FIRST.

Trump knew he was responsible for Cain's death & fired off an inflammatory tweet to change the news cycle

Believe it

— Don Winslow (@donwinslow) July 30, 2020

Basically, Donald Trump killed Herman Cain

— Roland Scahill (@rolandscahill) July 30, 2020

Herman Cain caught COVID at Trump’s Tulsa rally. It just killed him.

This is a tragedy, and it is exactly what experts were warning would happen if Trump went ahead with his rally.

Why don’t Republicans seem to want to learn, listen, or understand things?

— Ben Grrrrimes ★ (@softreeds) July 30, 2020

Herman Cain died. I hope the Tulsa rally was worth it. #TrumpDeathCult

— Peter Staley (@peterstaley) July 30, 2020

Trump is going to criticize Herman Cain for dying. "Very unfair to me!"

— Lev Novak (@LevNovak) July 30, 2020

Herman Cain, dead from COVID-19 that he was infected with AT Trump's Tulsa rally.

— Ken Reid (@KennethWReid) July 30, 2020

RIP one-time POTUS hopeful, Herman Cain, dead at the age of 74 after testing positive for CV19 following his attendance at a rally in Tulsa.
I didn’t agree with the man’s policy proposals, but he was a patriot who entered the game and fought with a kind of unconventional dignity.

— Todd Breasseale (@TBreassealeDHS) July 30, 2020

Is COVID-19 still a hoax? Should we NOT be wearing masks? Herman Cain caught the coronavirus from Trump's rally where no one had on masks. He's now dead. Why are people making this a political issue. It's a virus!

— Karen Hunter (@karenhunter) July 30, 2020

Donald trumps ego killed Herman Cain on the day of his Tulsa rally.

— Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) July 30, 2020

I'm looking forward to watching the MAGA performers on this website process the Herman Cain news.

I'm going to guess they will pretend Cain did not actually get COVID-19 at Trump's Tulsa rally but let's see how they spin it.

— Michael Edison Hayden (@MichaelEHayden) July 30, 2020

Already today we've had the president floating a fully fascistic election delay, an LA earthquake, one of the worst GDP reports in history, Herman Cain dying of COVID after appearing maskless at the Tulsa rally … it's 10:36 on the east coast.

— Slade (@Slade) July 30, 2020

do we think trump is going to tweet about how herman cain did NOT catch coronavirus at the tulsa rally

— libby watson (@libbycwatson) July 30, 2020

Herman Cain died to attend a Trump rally in which Trump ranted about how a ramp at West Point was slippery and that's why he needed help to go down it, and proved he's so strong and healthy because he could take a sip of water.

— Emily C. Singer (@CahnEmily) July 30, 2020

Herman Cain has passed away from Covid 19 after attending the Tulsa Rally on June 20th

— Tom Sullivan (@sullivanradio) July 30, 2020

Seems unlikely that Herman Cain is the only person who contracted COVID-19 at Trump’s Tulsa rally and succumbed

— Walter Thompson (@YourProtagonist) July 30, 2020

Trump's Tulsa event was an act of political theatre, designed to promote unsafe behavior. If the USA had a functional contact tracing program, we might be able to track the train of negligent homicides, finding out who gave COVID-19 to Herman Cain and who Cain gave COVID-19 to…

— Jeffrey St. Clair (@JSCCounterPunch) July 30, 2020

Trumpers,

As more and more Trumpers die unnecessarily from #coronavirus will you finally listen to us and wear a mask and keep your children home where they are safe?

Do you think @THEHermanCain's final hours were spent in celebration of Donald Trump?

It's time to wake up.

— Don Winslow (@donwinslow) July 30, 2020

Trump Effectively Kills Herman Cain is not that shocking a headline.

— Gary Shteyngart (@Shteyngart) July 30, 2020

Herman Cain downplayed COVID and refused to wear a mask
Herman Cain didn’t wear a mask to the Trump Tulsa rally
Herman Cain was hospitalized for COVID that he contracted at the Trump Tulsa rally
HERMAN CAIN JUST DIED

— Jay Michaels™ (@jaymichaels) July 30, 2020

Herman Cain was an anti-masker and a Trump sycophant.

Let's not lose sight of the fact that this virus is disproportionately killing black and brown folks due to institutionalized racism.

— Brittanie Shey 🐡 (@brittanieshey) July 30, 2020

Herman Cain dead from Covid after attending Trump’s Tulsa rally. Is that murder or suicide?

— Jonathan Goldstein (@JM_Goldstein) July 30, 2020

I wonder if Trump will apologize to Herman Cain’s family for insisting on holding his disastrous Tulsa rally

— Stacey Burns (@WentRogue) July 30, 2020

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