Sen. Hyde-Smith Should Step Down

Dumb, just dumb.

It’s people like Sen. Hyde-Smith that give Republicans a bad name and give credence to the party being forged from racists and evil, greedy white men. In the day and age of everyone being a journalist at the touch of their fingertips, you would think this would lead to people being a tad more cautious and reserve in their actions and behavior. This however isn’t the case, in fact, it’s quite the opposite.

Mississippi Sen. Hyde-Smith was recorded recognizing a loyal supporter of hers by saying, “If he invited me to a public hanging, I’d be on the front row.” Now for those of you who immediately placed their their hand over their head and painfully gave a deep sigh, I’m right here with you. Beyond the blatant racist context of that ‘joke’, it’s just for lack of better words, dumb. I get that there are racists in the world, that there are those that believe the Earth is flat and sadly those that believe Spider-Man isn’t the greatest superhero ever created, for which he is, but even a fool is considered wise if they keep their mouth shut. You’re telling me that as a politician, a Republican politician, a Republican politician of Mississippi, mind you, that you thought it was a bright idea to use public hangings as a reference point to signal one’s loyalty? Unreal. But what makes the clip even worse is the swell of laughter that follows her remark. It suggests there are many in the audience that get her reference, and worse, find it amusing enough to vocalize their bliss.

After the video surfaced, she immediately apologized for such vile and deplorable language and asked for forgiveness from her constituents letting them know that it was merely said in jest. Oh wait, she didn’t. In fact, she went full attack dog by stating that “any attempt to turn this into a negative connotation is ridiculous.” OMGooodnes! But wait, there’s more! In a press conference where reporters obviously wanted more clarity on the statement, governor of Mississippi, Phil Bryant, took it upon himself to pivot into talking about the abortion rate of African Americans (it’s a CNN link, bare with me). If your face is as wrinkled as mine in confusion, then congrats, you have the intellectual bandwidth higher than that of a gnat.

Let me say that yes, abortion is a serious concern within the African American community and it is something I remind my viewers of consistently. But anyone who thinks that’s a smart play to run when the context of the statement in question has severe racial undertones, then chances are you should not be in public spotlight much less with a microphone in front of you. By staying as Senator all Sen. Hyde-Smith does is fan the fire of Republicans being the party of racists. Her statements give light to her incompetence as a politician but in addition as a liability to the party that everyday strives to run from such false and damaging stereotypes.