President Trump on Thursday mourned the loss of businessman and former Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain, calling him “an American patriot and great friend.”

Cain, 74, died Thursday due to complications from COVID-19.

"My friend Herman Cain, a Powerful Voice of Freedom and all that is good, passed away this morning," Trump tweeted. "Herman had an incredible career and was adored by everyone that ever met him, especially me. He was a very special man, an American Patriot, and great friend."

Trump said that he had expressed his condolences to members of Cain’s family in a phone call. During the 2020 election cycle, Cain, an African-American, was a co-chair of the Black Voices for Trump group, and had been floated by Trump as a pick for the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.

During his career as a businessman, Cain had served as the CEO of Godfather’s Pizza and also did a stint as the chair of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. Cain launched a Republican bid for the White House in May 2011, hoping to become the first Black Republican presidential nominee. His unique 9-9-9 tax plan made him a serious contender for the nomination, but he dropped out of the race in December of that year due to sexual harassment allegations.

Cain had been diagnosed with COVID-19 on June 29 and was admitted to a Georgia hospital on July 1. Although Cain had said he did not know how he became infected with the virus, there is a possibility he contracted the disease during a Trump rally he attended in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on June 20.

Other Republican figures who knew Cain also mourned his death Thursday.

"Saddened that Herman Cain - a formidable champion of business, politics and policy - has lost his battle with Covid," Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, tweeted.

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