Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith Calls Voter Suppression a ‘Great Idea’

Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) reportedly told a small group of supporters in Starkville, Mississippi earlier this month she thought voter suppression was a “great idea.” “And then they remind me, that there's a lot of liberal folks in those other schools who that maybe we don't want to vote. Maybe we want to make it just a little more difficult,” Hyde-Smith is seen telling a group around her in a video reportedly taken on Nov. 3. “And I think that's a great idea.” Hyde-Smith's campaign confirmed the video was taken in Starkville but said it was “selectively edited” in a statement. “Obviously Sen. Hyde-Smith was making a joke,” spokeswoman Melissa Scallan wrote. “Now the liberal media wants to talk about anything other than Mike Epsy's record.” Democratic challenger Epsy's campaign said in its own statement to the Clarion Ledger that voting rights were “not a laughing matter,” and that “Mississippians deserve a senator who represents our best qualities, not a walking stereotype who embarrasses our state.” Hyde-Smith, who is facing Espy in a special election at the end of the month, also joked recently about attending a “public hanging.”