Mississippi Republican won't apologize for 'public hanging' comment, calls backlash 'ridiculous'
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Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi wants us to believe that she’s completely unaware of her state’s ugly, violent, and long history of lynching black people. That’s why she’s playing innocent and doubling down on her comments about atMississippi Republican won't apologize for 'public hanging' comment, calls backlash 'ridiculous'
Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi wants us to believe that she’s completely unaware of her state’s ugly, violent, and long history of lynching black people. That’s why she’s playing innocent and doubling down on her comments about attending a public hanging with a supporter of hers. Hyde-Smith is currently locked in a runoff race for her senate seat with Democrat Mike Espy, who is black. Apparently, at a campaign event, Hyde-Smith and her supporters got a chuckle out of her joke referencing how highly she regards the person she was talking about. As written in the New York Times, the scene went as follows: With her arm around a cattle rancher, Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, Republican of Mississippi, drew laughter and applause at a recent campaign event when she gushed about how highly she thought of him: “If he invited me to a public hanging, I’d be on the front row.” We all know this isn’t remotely funny. And if this is really a saying in Mississippi (or anywhere else), it should have been retired long ago. Hyde-Smith likely knows this. Even though she’s from the Deep South, at 59, she’s just not old enough to credibly claim this is an acceptable thing to say publicly amongst her age group. Except she doesn’t really need credibility or a reason, does she? She doesn’t care. Her party doesn’t care. And the racists that support them most certainly aren’t bothered by it. Republicans have been doing this kind of thing with increasing frequency over the last few years. They make racist, white supremacist statements and then feign shock and confusion when they get called on it. It is not quite the “Trump effect” per se (hint: the Republican Party didn’t suddenly get racist in 2015) but there’s definitely a direct correlation between who is currently leading the party and the hateful, racist rhetoric which is now the bedrock of the party’s platform and ideology. Republicans know racism works with their base and though they had the common sense to disguise it decades ago, they can’t be bothered to now. Hyde-Smith’s strategy is to make this a partisan issue. She seems to think the real problem is that anyone would even be offended by her remarks. In a statement released this statement over the weekend, Hyde-Smith said: “In referencing the [person] who invited me [to a speaking engagement], I used an exaggerated expression of regard, and any attempt to turn this into a negative connotation is ridiculous.” Want to help Mike Espy win? Sign up here to call Mississippi voters and help send another Democrat from the South to the Senate! Read more