Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez invoked the death of Herman Cain to ridicule the Trump campaign’s decision to hold in-person events.
Perez brought up the former pizza business CEO-turned 2012 Republican presidential candidate in response to questions about the president’s reelection campaign events on Monday, the same day the Democratic National Convention kicked off. His comments were made during an interview alongside Democratic convention CEO Joe Solmonese for Politico, which was published Tuesday.
“Was that a good model for how people should conduct themselves? Ask the family of Herman Cain,” Perez said.
The DNC has opted for a virtual convention instead of hosting it in Milwaukee as originally planned, given the coronavirus pandemic. The Republican National Committee canceled the Florida portion of its convention, but President Trump has been and will continue to travel across the country campaigning. The president visited Minnesota and Wisconsin on Monday.
Cain, who died last month at the age of 74, attended Trump’s rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in June. He was diagnosed with the coronavirus less than two weeks after attending the event, where he was photographed without wearing a mask. It’s unclear if that is where he contracted the virus.
Solmonese said that the styles of the Trump and Biden campaigns are indicative of “the way that each party has responded to this pandemic,” and he accused the president of “pulling a political stunt.”
