NATIONWIDE – Businessman and former Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain has passed away at 74 following weeks of hospitalization after being diagnosed with COVID-19, according to his website. 

What You Need To Know

  • Former Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain has died after being hospitalized with COVID-19

  • Cain ran for president in 2000 and 2012

  • President Trump announced he intended to nominate Cain to serve on the Federal Reserve in April 2019, but Cain withdrew his name from consideration

Dan Calabrese, an editor of Herman Cain's website, posted the news to the former candidate's website and Twitter account. 

"We knew when he was first hospitalized with COVID-19 that this was going to be a rough fight," Calabrese wrote. "He had trouble breathing and was taken to the hospital by ambulance. We all prayed that the initial meds they gave him would get his breathing back to normal, but it became clear pretty quickly that he was in for a battle."

Cain had been ill with the virus for several weeks. It’s not clear when or where he was infected, but he was hospitalized less than two weeks after attending President Donald Trump’s campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in June.

The former pizza company executive has been an outspoken backer of the president and was named by the campaign as a co-chair of Black Voices for Trump.

The Associated Press contributed to this reporting.