‘Public Hanging’ Remark Provokes Outrage, Draws New Attention to Mississippi Senate Runoff
Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith’s comment evokes lynchings, critics say
Posted Nov 12, 2018 9:21 AM
Emily Kopp
At a campaign event earlier this month, Mississippi Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith and her supporters laughed as she quipped about being in the front row of a “public hanging,†according to a newly surfaced video.
“If he invited me to a public hanging, I’d be on the front row,†the Republican said in an embrace with one of her supporters, according to a video posted by an independent journalist to Twitter and Facebook on Sunday.
Outraged observers say the Hyde-Smith’s comment evokes the bloody history of lynchings in Mississippi, which has the deadliest record of racist mob violence by hanging of any state in the United States, according to the NAACP. The video has also drawn new attention to her runoff race against Democratic challenger and former U.S. agriculture secretary Mike Espy, who is black.
Hyde-Smith and Espy were the top performers on Election Day, but neither candidate garnered 50 percent of the vote, triggering a runoff. Mississippi voters will go to the polls again on Nov. 27. Gov. Phil Bryant appointed Hyde-Smith to fill Sen. Thad Cochran’s seat when he retired due to his health in March.
more
https://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/public-hanging-mississippi-senate-runoff
