Herman Cain, a former CEO and former Republican presidential candidate passed away on Thursday of complications from coronavirus at the age of 74. Cain was a strong supporter of President Donald Trump and had been co-chair of the group Black Voices for Trump.

The news of his death was posted on twitter with a statement from his loved ones. '

'We knew when he was first hospitalized with COVID-19 that this was going to be a rough fight,'' the statement read. ''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."

Online media outlet Newsmax, where Cain was set to launch a weekly program, also wrote about his passing.

"Herman Cain -— our boss, our friend, like a father to so many of us — has passed away," the website's editor wrote. "Although he was basically pretty healthy in recent years, he was still in a high-risk group because of his history with cancer."

It's not clear when or where Cain became infected with COVID-19, but he was hospitalized less than two weeks after attending a Trump campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in June. On the day of the event, which drew thousands of people to an indoor venue, six Trump presidential campaign staffers tested positive.

"Herman Cain embodied the American Dream and represented the very best of the American spirit," White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany wrote on Twitter in response.

Herman Cain was born in the US state of Tennessee and raised in the city of Atlanta. He was a veteran of the Navy who scaled the ranks of the corporate world to establish himself as CEO of Godfather's Pizza.

He sought a career in politics and jumped into the Republican presidential primary in 2012, where he touted his experience as a businessman and coined the catchy "9-9-9" tax reform plan. The plan involved a 9% income tax, a 9% corporate tax, and 9% sales tax. 

But his run was short lived, as he struggled to respond to accusations that he had sexually harassed several women and a later news report alleging that the National Restaurant Association had paid settlements to two former employees over sexual harassment claims. 

Mitt Romney went on to win the 2012 primary, failing in his bid to unseat former president Barack Obama.

Read more:  United behind Romney

jcg/msh (AP, Reuters)