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'Public hanging' comment by Senator sparks outrage in Mississippi

During a campaign stop in Tupelo, MS on November 2nd, Senator Hyde-Smith is heard saying to a small crowd of supporters, "If he invited me to a public hanging, I'd be in the front row."

BILOXI - "Thoughts like that indicate what's really in your heart," James Crowell, President of the Biloxi Chapter of the NAACP said when he saw the video of Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith joking about a public hanging.

He was infuriated.

"I was born in 1950, and I came through the segregation time. I know what it feels like to not be recognized as a human being, and it brought those thoughts back to me," Crowell said.

During a campaign stop in Tupelo, MS on November 2nd, Senator Hyde-Smith is heard saying to a small crowd of supporters, "If he invited me to a public hanging, I'd be in the front row."

Hyde-Smith later defended herself, saying her words were an "exaggerated expression of regard" for a rancher who invited her to speak and "any attempt to turn this into a negative connotation is ridiculous."

The senator is running against Democrat Mike Espy, an African American politician in a runoff on November 27th.

During a press conference Monday afternoon, she repeatedly refused to comment when the press asked her about her remarks.

"We stand by the statement and that's all I'm gonna say about it," Hyde-Smith stated.

Mississippi has a dark history of racially motivated lynchings of African Americans. According to the NAACP's national website, the state has had 581 reported lynchings between 1882 and 1968, the highest number of any state.

Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant, who appointed Hyde-Smith when Senator Thad Cochran's seat became vacant following his retirement, defended her.

"I think she certainly is addressing the fact that she has put out a statement. I can tell you that all of us in public life have said things on occasion that we could have phrased better. When you make as many speeches as we do in public life, that does occur. But I know this woman and I know her heart. I knew it when I appointed her, and I know it now. She meant no offense by the statement, nothing in her heart of ill-will," Governor Bryant said. "I think we all know it's easy for people to be offended and hurt by a number of things that we said. But again, I know her. And everything is not about race."

Crowell says if she had any heart, she would say that she was sorry.

"I'm pretty sure these young, NEO- Nazi people would be saying some of the same stuff. And we can't allow that to happen," Crowell said.

Mike Espy's campaign issued a statement saying:

"Cindy Hyde-Smith's comments are reprehensible. 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."

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