Herman Cain's Twitter says COVID-19 ‘not as deadly’ as media implies. He died of COVID-19
Forbes magazine reports that the Twitter account of Herman Cain, the former Republican presidential candidate who died from coronavirus on July 30, tweeted claims that the virus is “not as deadly” as “mainstream media” would have people believe.
The tweet has since been deleted, but for weeks Cain’s tweets from “beyond the grave” have raised concerns about Twitter’s handling of “dead” accounts. The tweets posted to Cain’s account since his death come from “The Cain Gang,” a family group who have vowed “to share the information and ideas he believed in.”
The now-deleted tweet from Cain’s account said, “It looks like the virus is not as deadly as the mainstream media first made it out to be,” while linking to an article published on the Western Journal.
Many Twitter users pointed out the oddity of a comment about coronavirus being “not as deadly” coming from the account of a man who actually died from it. Some users raised questions about the account still bearing the blue “verified” check mark. According to Twitter , the “verified” status is used to indicate that an account is authentic.
Cain died from COVID-19 approximately a month after attending a rally for U.S. President Donald Trump in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Though the event was under-attended — 6,000 people were inside a venue that can hold 19,000 — health officials believe a record spike of virus cases in the area can be attributed to it.
Cain’s death, and the recent tweet, was called “a tragedy in four acts” by Brian Klaas, global politics professor at University College London. He pointed out on Twitter that Cain had initially tweeted against the use of face masks, and had then attended the rally without wearing one.
A tragedy in four acts:
Act I: Herman Cain tweets against masks
Act II: Herman Cain attends Trump rally without mask
Act III: Herman Cain dies of covid-19
Act IV: Herman Cain's zombie Twitter account tweets that covid-19 isn't as deadly as the media claims https://t.co/E1001i65GA
— Brian Klaas (@brianklaas) August 31, 2020
Lots of people pointing out the irony in this now-deleted Herman Cain tweet. pic.twitter.com/5Wtgi2ZS7U
— Lisette Voytko (@lisettevoytko) August 31, 2020
A New York Times investigation reported in 2019 that the site linked to by The Cain Gang in its tweet was previously blacklisted by both Apple News and Google News, in part for publishing misinformation.
Because Cain’s account profile indicates who is holding the reins, it is not in violation of the platform’s rules, said Trenton Kennedy, Twitter policy spokesperson, in an email to Forbes .