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Deanna Paul
Reporter national covering and breaking news
Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss) asked for public apology – for all Mississippians – from Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Who drew criticism for a line made while campaigning in early November.
"If he invited me to a public hanging, I'd be on the front row," Hyde-Smith is interviewed by Lamar White Jr. on Sunday morning.
Thompson released a statement Monday, calling the senator's comments on public hanging "beyond disrespectful and offensive," adding that Mississippi's history includes "one of the highest numbers of public lynching, that we know of, than any other state in this country."
Hyde-Smith, who in a Sunday statement called the remark an "exaggerated expression of look," refused to elaborate Monday when reporters asked for more context. She appeared in Jackson, the state's capital, with Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant (R) – Who Appointed Hyde-Smith to Congress this year – after accepting an endorsement from the National Right to Life Committee.
I'm gonna say about it, "Hyde-Smith said when asked by reporters if she was familiar with the history of hangings in Mississippi. She was also asked if the phrase was in her everyday vocabulary and should not be viewed with a negative connotation.
Unable to get an answer from Hyde-Smith, reporters turned to Bryant for answers.
"Bryant said, adding," I know this woman, and I know her heart, and I know her when I appointed her, I know it now. She meant no offense by that statement. "
Hyde-Smith, who has been endorsed by Trump, became the first woman to represent Republican Sen. Thad Cochran, who stepped down because of health problems.
She faces Democrat Mike Espy in a Nov. 27 runoff to determine who will serve the remaining two years of Cochran's term. Neither candidate was able to win more than 50 percent of the vote in the Nov. 6 special election.
Espy and Hyde-Smith, 41 percent. If Espy were to win, he would be the first black senator to represent the state of the Reconstruction era. Espy served three terms in the House of Representatives, from 1987 to 1993.
In a statement Sunday, Espy called Hyde-Smith's comments "reprehensible." He added, "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 understanding and judgment to represent the people of our state. "
Many critics of Hyde-Smith's commented on the history of racism and hangings in the state. Statistics from the NAACP show that nearly one-eighth of the 4,743 lynchings between 1882 and 1968 that occurred in the United States took place in Mississippi.
"Hyde-Smith's decision to joke about 'hanging,' when the history of African-Americans is marred by countless incidents of this barbarous act, is sick," NAACP President Derrick Johnson said in a statement Sunday. "Any politician seeking to serve as a national voice of the people of Mississippi should know better."
Cristen Hemmins, chairwoman of the Lafayette County Democrats in Mississippi, said the video was "absolutely stunning."
"With the history of lynching of Mississippi, you just do not say something like that," Hemmins said in an interview Sunday. "I can not even imagine the kind of mind that would come up with a throwaway phrase like that. I'm a Mississippian. Nobody I know talks like that. It's absolutely unacceptable. "
Hyde-Smith of Brookhaven is a former Democratic State senator and agriculture commissioner. In 2010, she switched to the Republican Party, according to the Clarion Ledger. Last week, she was going to keep pushing Trump's agenda, asserting "Republicans are going to keep this seat" and that she would "fight like nobody's business the next three weeks."
Trump has been vocal in his support for Hyde-Smith, tweeting in August that she is "strong" on issues such as job creation and his proposed wall on the southern border to help him "put America First!"
He added, "Cindy has voted for our agenda in the Senate 100% of the time and has my complete and complete Endorsement. We need Cindy to win in Mississippi! "
At an Oct. 2 rally in Southaven, Trump continued to stump for Hyde-Smith.
"She's always had my back," he said. "She's always had your back, and a vote for Cindy is a vote for me."
Republicans are expected to win seats in the Senate. The majority they held before the election, 51 seats, in Florida, Arizona, and Mississippi.
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