Trump to rally — twice — for Mississippi senator who 'joked' about lynchings

Trump is breaking out of his post-election funk by heading down to Mississippi to campaign for a Senate candidate who “joked” about lynching and voter suppression.

Trump will host not one, but two, rallies for Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, who is facing a runoff election against Democrat Mike Espy.

The return to his beloved campaign events comes as Trump is still reeling from the aftermath of the midterm elections, when Republicans lost control of the House.

Reports indicate that Trump has retreated into a “cocoon of bitterness and resentment” since the Election Day thumping. He has since reacted by lashing out at the military and insulting the troops — and even skipping Veterans Day events.

But Trump appears to be excited to once again surround himself with the dwindling number of Americans who support him. He heralded the upcoming rally with Hyde-Smith on Twitter, saying she “loves Mississippi and our Great U.S.A.”

Hyde-Smith has been widely criticized for her remark in response to a supporter where she stated, “If he invited me to a public hanging, I’d be on the front row.” She defended the comment as an “exaggerated expression of regard.”

Hundreds of blacks were lynched in Mississippi between the 1800s and 1950. Hyde-Smith’s challenger in the race, Espy, is a black man.

Making her commentary even worse, newly released video has emerged of the candidate describing efforts to suppress the vote as “great.” The video showed Hyde-Smith smiling as she addressed a mostly white crowd: “There’s a lot of liberal folks in those other schools who maybe we don’t want to vote. Maybe we want to make it just a little more difficult. And I think that’s a great idea.”

Despite the comments, Republicans are going all-in to defend their party’s hold on the seat, and are spending $1 million to help Hyde-Smith.

Her rhetoric on race is right in line with what Trump has espoused many times, most infamously when he praised neo-Nazis as “very fine people.”

Trump campaigning with Hyde-Smith is just the sort of pick-me-up he’s been searching for after the country repudiated him so thoroughly.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.