Senator Jokes About "Public Hanging" Going Against Black Candidate

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Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith Faces Swift Backlash From Twitter

The mayo madness continues in the election weeks, with old-fashion racism showing its ugly head again.

In Mississippi, Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith faces a runoff against Mike Espy, who is Black, for the U.S. Senate.

According to the Sun Herald, Hyde-Smith was speaking at a campaign event in Tupelo on November 2 when she made the most insensitive remarks.

After talking about receiving praise from a cattle rancher, Colin Hutchinson, Hyde-Smith said, “If he invited me to a public hanging, I’d be on the front row.”

The Bayou Brief publisher Lamar White, posted a video of Hyde-Smith’s statement on Twitter and the 10-second clip immediately received backlash.

Many condemned Hyde-Smith for talking about a public hanging when she’s currently going against a Black candidate. Not to mention, she joked about hangings in a state that’s historically known for having hundreds of lynchings from 1882 to 1968, according to the NAACP.

Mike Espy released a statement about the incident:

“Cindy Hyde-Smith’s comments are reprehensible. They have no place in our political discourse, in Mississippi, or our country. We need leaders, not dividers, and her words show that she lacks the understanding and judgment to represent the people of our state”

Hyde-Smith was appointed by Governor Phil Bryant to fill Thad Cochran‘s seat in the senate in March when he retired for health reasons. According to NBC News, she’s going against Espy, the former Secretary of Agriculture, to complete the final two years of the Senate term she assumed from Cochran.

She already has the approval of Trump, who campaigned for her in Mississippi last month. When November 6 hit, however, neither Hyde-Smith nor Epsy broke 50 percent of the votes (they both gained slightly more than 40 percent). So now, the two have to face each other in a runoff on November 27.

If Epsy wins, he will be the first Black man to serve as Mississippi’s senator since Reconstruction.

Hyde-Smith tried to explain her comments on November 2 in a statement:

“In a comment on Nov. 2, I referred to accepting an invitation to a speaking engagement. In referencing the one who invited me, I used an exaggerated expression of regard, and any attempt to turn this into a negative connotation is ridiculous.”