A video of outgoing Mississippi U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith declaring victory ahead of time during the election has been making the rounds online and sparking criticism of the Republican. Hyde-Smith lost the Mississippi U.S. Senate race to Democrat Scott Colom after a tight contest.
In the video, shared on X by journalist Yashar Ali, Hyde-Smith can be seen already celebrating her victory soon after the ballots were cast. She says that she blocked Colom from becoming a federal judge and praised her voters for preventing him from becoming a senator.
In another part of the video, she can be seen taking a jab at former U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, saying that she “learned a lesson that we might not quite enjoy her company in Mississippi.”
Soon after the election was decided, however, Hyde-Smith congratulated her opponent on X and thanked the voters who supported her.
Internet Criticizes Mississippi’s Cindy Hyde-Smith
The clip in which the Mississippi politician declared her own victory ahead of time surfaced soon after Colom won the race, leading to widespread mockery of Hyde-Smith. Her self-congratulatory tone even surprised some viewers: “Is this real? Because it’s so awful, and the race was far from being called – was she really this foolish?”
What really irked most users, however, was their perception that the speech had a racist undertone, as she referenced both Colom and Harris, two people of color. One person wrote: “What do Scott Colom and Kamala Harris have in common? I’m sure she’s drawing a black line here but I can’t quite get the color of her wording.”
This led many people in the thread to insult the outgoing U.S. Senator, with one saying that “white supremacy is a low IQ cope.” Others added: “She is absolutely the most stereotypically white supremacist looking senator.”
Several people who appeared to be Mississippi residents celebrated her loss as an anti-racist victory: “And she learned today the people of Mississippi reject her racist old South practices.” Some other folks even took a jab at her: “How many ways can Cindy Hyde-Smith spell bigot, racist, white supremacist and, finally now, loser?”
With his victory, Scott Colom will become the third black U.S. Senator in Mississippi’s history. The first two were Republicans Hiram Rhodes Revels and Blanche K. Bruce, who served from February 1870 to March 1871 and March 1875 to March 1881, respectively. Since Bruce left office, Mississippi has gone more than 140 years without a black U.S. Senator.
