(Business Insider) – Herman Cain, the former Republican presidential candidate, was hospitalized with the coronavirus on Wednesday, according to a statement sent via his Twitter account on Thursday.
Cain tested positive for the virus on Monday and was admitted to the hospital on Wednesday. As of Thursday afernoon, he was in stable condition and not on a ventilator, the statement said.
Cain attended President Donald Trump’s controversial indoor campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma on June 20th and tweeted a photo of himself seated in close proximity to several other attendees. None of them, including Cain, were wearing face masks.
On Wednesday, Cain tweeted that “people are fed up” by social distancing and mask-wearing policies.
The 74-year-old former pizza restaurant executive was diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer in 2006, but beat significant odds by surviving the disease and becoming cancer-free.
In April 2019, Trump announced that he would appoint Cain, a contributor and host at conservative news outlet Newsmax, to serve on the Federal Reserve Board.
“He’s a very terrific man, a terrific person,” Trump said of Cain last year.
But Cain’s path to the Federal Reserve was derailed by reports that at least two women accused him of sexual harassment while he led the National Restaurant Association, which paid out settlements to the women.
Cain denied the allegations of harassment and said he withdrew his name from consideration because the position’s $183,100 salary would require him to take a significant paycut.
As a 2012 presidential candidate, Cain was best known for his “9-9-9” tax proposal, which featured a 9% income tax, a 9% federal sales tax, and a 9% business-transaction tax.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Cain’s hospitalization.