Controversies Prevent Running Candidates in Mississippi Senate

Last week, a special Mississippi election contest that seemed to miss out on reality was in disarray, as the two candidates competing for the state's open Senate seat sought to portray each other as morally unfit. .

On November 6, two days after the special elections, the elections were decisive: neither GOP Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith nor Democrat Mike Espy won 50 percent of the vote to win. interview: "We are very proud of the campaign we have conducted so far.We have run a clean campaign, we have avoided being negative and we will continue to do so."

But then, Hyde-Smith's quest to retain its seat, which had been named earlier this year after former Senator Thad Cochran resigned due to health problems, had suddenly fallen on unstable ground. She caused a violent shock when a video was shown showing Hyde-Smith, who is white, kissing a supporter after praising and saying in front of a jubilant crowd: "S & H at a public hanging, I'll be in the front row. "

Following the release of the video, Hyde-Smith did not apologize but rather defended herself in a statement.

"In a comment of November 2, I mentioned the acceptance of an invitation to speak," she said. "In referring to the one who invited me, I used an expression of exaggerated respect, and any attempt to turn that into a negative connotation is ridiculous."

Rogelio V. Solis / AP

But Espy, his African-American opponent, jumped on the ball, condemning her for evoking a language reminiscent of the lynchings that mark the Mississippi's history.

"Cindy Hyde-Smith's comments are reprehensible," Espy said in a statement. "They have no place in our political speech, in Mississippi, nor in our country, we need leaders, not separators, and her words show that she lacks understanding and judgment to represent the people of our state. "

Four days later, another video of Hyde-Smith, dated November 3, was posted on Twitter. This time, she was seen telling a group of supporters in Starkville, Mississippi, that she thought it was a "good idea" to make it more difficult for "liberal people" to vote.

"Then they remind me that there are a lot of liberals in these other schools who may not want to vote, maybe we want to make it a bit more difficult. is an excellent idea "seems to be said in the video posted by the same publisher who posted the first video.

Hyde-Smith has again refused to apologize for his comments. Instead, his campaign spokesman issued a statement on Thursday saying: "Obviously, Senator Hyde-Smith was making a joke and it is clear that the video was mounted selectively."

Since his comments emerged and put his candidacy on hold, Hyde-Smith reversed the course of the days following November 6th and is now reinforcing his rhetoric and becoming negative in this tight fight.

In that same statement on Thursday, the Hyde-Smith campaign stepped out of its own controversy by calling Espy for allegedly lied about a lobbying deal with the Ivorian government during a period of violent upheaval.

"At present, the liberal media want to talk about nothing but the corruption of Mike Espy and the loss of 750,000 dollars from an African dictator accused of war crimes, including murder, rape and torture, "spokeswoman Melissa Scallan said. for the Hyde-Smith campaign, said.

A new digital ad from the Hyde-Smith campaign, released on Friday, denounces the alleged link between Espy and the African despot who refused to give up power in Cote d'Ivoire and is currently on trial for crimes against humanity.

The statement and announcement are based on a Fox News report released Thursday, which released a document of the US Foreign Ministry's Foreign Agent Registration Act, which shows that Espy continued to receive payments under a lobbying contract with the former president of Côte d 'Ivoire.

Rogelio V. Solis / AP, FILE

Espy's agricultural consulting firm, AE Agritrade Inc., has signed a three-month contract with Cocoa and the Coffee Board of Côte d'Ivoire for $ 750,000, according to the document. Espy was an agricultural consultant after serving as Secretary of Agriculture for President Bill Clinton.

In 2011, the former congressman had declared to Hill that he had terminated his contract during the violent conflict that erupted after the then President, Laurent Gbagbo, had refused to give up power after losing the elections against Alassane Ouattara.

Espy said that he "had only been working on the contract for a little over a month before suspending it in early February.

"I have deliberately suspended it," he told Hill in 2011. "Events are going fast, it is very difficult to work in this context."

The FARA document published by Fox News indicates that the Jackson-based consulting firm Espy has received all of the $ 750,000, payments that continued until March 1, 2011. This consulting firm received a payment $ 400,000 from the Côte d'Ivoire's Cocoa and Coffee Board in January 2011. Then $ 350,000 on March 1, 2011.

"Secretary Espy worked on agricultural issues for international clients, and during this work, he realized that one of these clients had not passed the test. He then terminated the contract and then reported what he knew to the US government, "Danny Blanton, communication director for the Espy campaign, said in a statement to Fox News and confirmed by ABC News.

Espy has experienced ethical scandals in the past. During his tenure as a Clinton cabinet member, his growing political popularity in the 1990s was halted by a bribery scandal involving personal gifts from food companies that he had regulated under the Clinton government . He was acquitted of all these charges.

But the underdog campaign is not afraid of fierce rivalry, after spokesperson Espy responded in two statements, first addressing the last video of Hyde-Smith on the repression of voters.

"For a state like Mississippi, where the right to vote was obtained by sweat and blood, everyone should understand that it is not a question of risk," Blanton said. "Mississippians deserve a senator who represents our best qualities, not a walking stereotype that embarrasses our state."

In another statement, Blanton blamed Hyde-Smith for leading a "smear campaign" against the former Secretary of Agriculture.

"Cindy Hyde-Smith had the opportunity to admit that she was wrong and, instead of apologizing, she doubled." As it did not work, she is trying to change the subject by running a smear campaign against Mike, "he said.

But in a state that President Donald Trump won by almost 20 percentage points, support for Hyde-Smith among his Republican base is unsurprisingly unshakeable. The president will visit the state at two rallies in Tupelo and Biloxi later in the month of this month, November 26. She even scores stable fundraising figures after making the remark of "public hanging".

Tom Williams / Roll call via Getty Images

Hyde-Smith announced Tuesday 17 new contributions for a total of $ 65,700, including 5,000 Google's CAP, soon after the controversy erupted, according to Open Secrets.

Google's contribution is the PAC's first contribution to the Hyde-Smith campaign, but the company told Open Secrets that this was done before its controversial remark.

"This contribution was made on November 2, before Senator Hyde-Smith's remarks were made public on November 11," a Google spokesman told Open Secrets. "We support candidates who promote growth-promoting economic and technological development policies, but we do not tolerate these words and would not have made such a contribution had we known them."

For its part, Espy raised more than $ 163,000 in new contributions on November 13, according to its latest filing with the FEC. He also relies on the support of the National Democrats, including potential candidates for 2020, the African-American Sense. Kamala Harris and Cory Booker, who planned visits on Saturday and Monday, depending on the campaign, to support him and bring him to the US Senate. .

Controversy abounds in this election, but less than two weeks have elapsed before voters return to the polls, it seems that for those who come out victorious, the battle to get there is already very bad.