Trash

Sen. Cindy “I am not a racist” Hyde-Smith was just outed as a Confederate sympathizer

A man holding a gun

Just in case there was any lingering doubts about whether Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi is racist, they can officially be put to bed.

The antigay politician, who is currently fighting to keep her senate seat in a bitter runoff election against Democrat Mike Espy, was just outed as being a Confederate sympathizer.

Quick recap: Earlier this month, Hyde-Smith, who opposes same-sex marriage, came under fire when video of her cracking a joke about public hangings surfaced online. Days later, another video of her joking about voter suppression hit the internet.

Related: Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith hates gays, loves voter suppression, and thinks hanging black people is funny

Given Mississippi’s long history of lynching African Americans and stifling the black vote, and the fact that Hyde-Smith is running against a black man, the comments didn’t go over so well.

Now, photos of her wearing a Confederate soldier’s hat and holding a rifle have been uncovered on Facebook. And they’re not cute.

The 2014 post was discovered buried on Hyde-Smith’s own Facebook profile, and includes several photos of her posing with Confederate artifacts, along with the caption: “Mississippi history at its best!”

Since Hyde-Smith’s initial public hanging remarks went viral, several of her most influential donors have rescinded their support and asked for their campaign donations back.

Walmart was the first to request its $2000 be returned. The decision came after Debra Messing called the company out on Twitter:

To which the mega-retailer responded:

Other companies quickly followed suit.

Railroad company Union Pacific and defense contractor Leidos both requested their $5,000 donations to Hyde-Smith’s campaign be returned. Meanwhile, Boston Scientific asked for its $2,500 back.

Google donated $5000 to Hyde-Smith and has not asked for the money back; however, it did put out a statement saying it made the contribution before Hyde-Smith’s racist comments were made public and that the company “would not have made such a contribution had we known about them.”

During a runoff debate against Epsy last night, Hyde-Smith once again addressed the controversy surrounding her campaign, apologizing to “anyone that was offended by my comments” before saying her “comments were taken and twisted and used as a political weapon against me by my opponent.”

Just a little word to the wise: If you ever find yourself having to repeatedly deny you’re racist, there’s a very good chance you’re racist.

Mississippi’s runoff election will be held on November 27.

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