Trump-endorsed, Mississippi GOP candidate refuses to apologize for joke about ‘public hanging’

Nov 14, 2018

 

A Mississippi GOP Senate candidate refuses to back down from a joke she made about being in the front row of a public hanging.

Cindy Hyde-Smith took questions after an appearance with her state’s Republican governor on Monday, and she was asked repeatedly about her “public hanging” joke, CNN reports.

Hyde-Smith directed journalists to a weekend statement in which she downplayed her joke as “an exaggerated expression of regard.”

“I put out a statement yesterday and we stand by that statement,” Hyde-Smith told a reporter, according to Blavity. “We put out the statement yesterday and it’s available and we stand by that statement.”

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When another journalist addressed Governor Phil Bryant about Hyde-Smith’s joke, Bryant responded: “She’s certainly addressing the fact that she put out a statement,” according to CNN.

Mike Espy, Hyde-Smith’s Democratic opponent who is Black, appeared on MSNBC Monday where he denounced the joke.

“I have to confess to you, I’ve never heard that kind of colloquialism,” Espy said, according to CNN. “I can’t reach into her heart and determine why that came out of her mouth, but it was wrong.”

On Nov. 2, Hyde-Smith was speaking to a group of supporters after cattle rancher Colin Hutchinson introduced her at the event, and she commented, “If he invited me to a public hanging, I’d be on the front row,” according to KNOE.

That video clip went viral on social media.

Between 1882 and 1968, Mississippi had the highest number of lynchings in the United States, according to CNN. Despite the state’s violent and racist past, Hyde-Smith claims her words weren’t racist. She also said she wasn’t referencing Espy.

“I referred to accepting an invitation to a speaking engagement,” Hyde-Smith said in a statement. “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.”

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Espy countered that it doesn’t matter who Hyde-Smith was talking about. In the CNN interview, he called the expression “hurtful and harmful” and one that reinforces negative “stereotypes that have held back our state:”

Espy’s campaign formally condemned Hyde-Smith’s comments on Sunday.

“Cindy Hyde-Smith’s comments are reprehensible,” Espy spokesman Danny Blanton said in a statement. “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.”

The senator was also called out on social media:

Bryant appointed Hyde-Smith to the U.S. Senate after Thad Cochran resigned in April due to health reasons. She and Espy will face off in a runoff on November 27.

 

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