White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany refused to speculate whether Herman Cain contracted coronavirus at President Trump’s rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
McEnany noted that Cain, who died on Thursday after a battle with COVID-19, had traveled to several locations prior to contracting the virus. She said that the White House is focused on honoring his legacy rather than politicizing his death.
“Herman Cain is the absolute embodiment of the American dream. We are grieved, and we are very saddened by his passing. … I would refer you to a post on Herman Cain’s website, and he says … ‘I realize people will speculate about the Tulsa rally, but Herman did a lot of traveling the past week. I don’t think there’s any way to trace this to one specific contact that caused the infection. We’ll never know,'” McEnany said Friday at a White House press briefing.
“So I will not politicize Herman Cain’s passing, and I would just note the great contributions he’s made to our society. We’ll always remember him, and his legacy will stand,” she added.
Trump and Cain were friends and political allies. The president mourned Cain’s death on Thursday, calling him an “American patriot” and a “great man.” Others, including CNN host Chris Cuomo, questioned whether Trump was responsible for Cain’s death because of his Tulsa rally.
