U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., said Friday during a campaign stop in Columbia that she’s thankful for President Trump’s support, a day after he gave her his endorsement.
“He had called me a few days earlier and he said, ‘Cindy, I want to fully endorse you. You’re doing a great job. I need to keep you here to help me.’ I said, ‘Oh, Mr. President, I’m so honored, thank you.’”
Hyde-Smith discussed issues with supporters at the Town & Country Feed Store on Lumberton Road.
She’s facing State Sen. Chris McDaniel, R-Ellisville, and former Democratic congressman and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Espy in a special election on Nov. 6 to serve the remaining two years of Thad Cochran’s term after the longtime senator retired earlier this year. Gov. Phil Bryant appointed Hyde-Smith, the former state agriculture commissioner, in April.
Trump had tweeted Aug. 23, “@cindyhydesmith has helped me put America First! She’s strong on the Wall, is helping me create Jobs, loves our Vets and fights for our conservative judges. Cindy has voted for our Agenda in the Senate 100% of the time and has my complete and total endorsement. We need Cindy to win in Mississippi.”
The tweet had 64,123 likes and 14,692 retweets as of Tuesday.
After the call from the president, the Lincoln County resident said she and Trump discussed announcing the endorsement.
“I asked, ‘So do we just kind of sit on this? Does your office announce it?’” she said. “He said his office would announce it. So I’m sitting there for days and wondering when it was going to be. We’ve worked really well since I’ve been in D.C. and Mississippians have the conservative values here that are much like his agenda. It’s the agenda we were supporting. It was pretty exciting to get that call from the president.”
Whether Trump would endorse Hyde-Smith had been closely watched. He had endorsed McDaniel, a Tea Party favorite, when McDaniel nearly upset Cochran in 2014.
After Trump made his endorsement of Hyde-Smith, McDaniel tweeted, “Mississippians know I'm the only conservative in this race. They know I'll be the toughest fighter for President Trump's America First agenda and I look forward to working together with him very soon to continue making America great.”
The top two candidates will face one another in a runoff Nov. 27, if no candidate gets at least 50 percent plus one vote on Nov. 6.
The fear among some GOP leaders is that if McDaniel wins the runoff he would be susceptible to being beat by Espy if moderates who typically vote Republican did not support McDaniel’s ultra-conservative persona. Gov. Phil Bryant and other prominent Mississippi Republicans are also backing Hyde-Smith. McDaniel has tried to paint Hyde-Smith as a liberal because she was a Democrat until switching parties in 2010, while she has said she’s always been conservative.
Hyde-Smith said she’s enjoyed the relationship she’s had with the president since his campaign.
“I served on his ag advisory committee when he was a candidate,” she said. “We’ve been on conference calls. We’ve had a history. I just had no idea that the governor would tap me for this.”
The senator said Trump is accomplishing a lot as president.
“Rolling back the corporate tax from 35 percent to 21 percent and the burdensome rules that were just killing farmers and ranchers,” she said. “He’s been doing a number of things to help the economy. Mississippi is in step with Donald Trump on many issues. We’re all enjoying this economy.”
Hyde-Smith was also pleased to be involved with the nominations of judges for the federal bench and the Supreme Court.
“President Trump invited me to the White House to meet Judge (Brett) Kavanaugh,” she said. “I was there the night he announced the nomination. I got to be there and he and the First Lady came out and explained why he had chosen Judge Kavanaugh. To be a part of that and a part of confirmation of conservative judges is pretty exciting.”
Pictured Above: U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith speaks Friday at Town & Country Feed Store in Columbia with supporters and local Republicans. Hyde-Smith made her appearance a day after President Donald Trump endorsed her and said “we’ve worked really well since I’ve been in D.C. and Mississippians have the conservative values here that are much like his agenda. ... It was pretty exciting to get that call from the president.” | Photo by Mark Rogers
