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.
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 (@Dave Zirin) 1596119332.0
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 c… https://t.co/xnPxR6sJGd— hasanabi (@hasanabi) 1596119336.0
So @parscale and @realDonaldTrump got Herman Cain killed by covid from the Tulsa rally.— melissa “cancel student debt” byrne (@melissa “cancel student debt” byrne) 1596119408.0
Herman Cain went to Trump’s Tulsa rally and went to a hospital with COVID not long after— David Lee Matthews (@David Lee Matthews) 1596119483.0
Holy shit, Herman Cain died of coronavirus, which I believe he caught at Trump's Tulsa rally? Dear god— David Pakman (@David Pakman) 1596119491.0
Pay attention. Trump's morning tweet about postponing the election makes more sense now. As President, he would h… https://t.co/60L2jOL0j9— Don Winslow (@Don Winslow) 1596119503.0
Basically, Donald Trump killed Herman Cain— Roland Scahill (@Roland Scahill) 1596119522.0
Herman Cain caught COVID at Trump’s Tulsa rally. It just killed him. This is a tragedy, and it is exactly what… https://t.co/O72EnEhAj9— Ben "Two Yule Logs" Decade (@Ben "Two Yule Logs" Decade) 1596119531.0
Herman Cain died. I hope the Tulsa rally was worth it. #TrumpDeathCult— Peter Staley (@Peter Staley) 1596119541.0
Trump is going to criticize Herman Cain for dying. "Very unfair to me!"— Lev Novak (@Lev Novak) 1596119621.0
Herman Cain, dead from COVID-19 that he was infected with AT Trump's Tulsa rally.— Ken Reid (@Ken Reid) 1596119635.0
Is COVID-19 still a hoax? Should we NOT be wearing masks? Herman Cain caught the coronavirus from Trump's rally whe… https://t.co/i5p6XVan9s— Karen Hunter (@Karen Hunter) 1596119721.0
Donald trumps ego killed Herman Cain on the day of his Tulsa rally.— Kurt "Masks Save Lives" Eichenwald (@Kurt "Masks Save Lives" Eichenwald) 1596119766.0
I'm looking forward to watching the MAGA performers on this website process the Herman Cain news. I'm going to gu… https://t.co/munVzqaKv4— Michael Edison Hayden (@Michael Edison Hayden) 1596119802.0
Already today we've had the president floating a fully fascistic election delay, an LA earthquake, one of the worst… https://t.co/Jj038IUsqA— Slade (@Slade) 1596119814.0
Herman Cain died to attend a Trump rally in which Trump ranted about how a ramp at West Point was slippery and that… https://t.co/wjIrdCtQCY— Emily C. Singer (@Emily C. Singer) 1596119872.0
Herman Cain has passed away from Covid 19 after attending the Tulsa Rally on June 20th— Tom Sullivan (@Tom Sullivan) 1596119872.0
Seems unlikely that Herman Cain is the only person who contracted COVID-19 at Trump’s Tulsa rally and succumbed— Walter Thompson (@Walter Thompson) 1596119891.0
Trump's Tulsa event was an act of political theatre, designed to promote unsafe behavior. If the USA had a function… https://t.co/PPwHDcWk2E— Jeffrey St. Clair (@Jeffrey St. Clair) 1596119920.0
Trumpers, As more and more Trumpers die unnecessarily from #coronavirus will you finally listen to us and wear a m… https://t.co/67m6AoMOw5— Don Winslow (@Don Winslow) 1596120010.0
Trump Effectively Kills Herman Cain is not that shocking a headline.— Gary Shteyngart (@Gary Shteyngart) 1596120123.0
Herman Cain downplayed COVID and refused to wear a mask Herman Cain didn’t wear a mask to the Trump Tulsa rally Her… https://t.co/1okvsOUV5y— Jay Michaels™ (@Jay Michaels™) 1596120145.0
Herman Cain was an anti-masker and a Trump sycophant. Let's not lose sight of the fact that this virus is disprop… https://t.co/3egFn2Mcs9— Brittanie Shey (@Brittanie Shey) 1596120256.0
Herman Cain dead from Covid after attending Trump’s Tulsa rally. Is that murder or suicide?— Jonathan Goldstein (@Jonathan Goldstein) 1596120265.0
I wonder if Trump will apologize to Herman Cain’s family for insisting on holding his disastrous Tulsa rally— Stacey Burns (@Stacey Burns) 1596120290.0
