Trump to Hold Pair of Mississippi Rallies for Cindy Hyde-Smith

Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (L) stands on stage with US President Donald Trump at a 'Make Ame
MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty

President Trump will hold a pair of Mississippi rallies for Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) a week from Monday, the day before the November 27 Senate runoff.

Democrat candidate Mike Espy is hoping to pull an upset in the final Senate race of the 2018 election cycle.

The Make America Great Again rallies will be held at 5:00 pm at the Tupelo Regional Airport in Tupelo and at 8:00 pm at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum in Biloxi, the Donald J. Trump for President campaign announced on Saturday.

“President Trump is so committed to getting out the vote for Cindy Hyde-Smith that he scheduled two rallies in the great State of Mississippi on the day before the run-off election. The President needs all hands on deck on Election Day on November 27 so he can continue to count on Senator Hyde-Smith’s outstanding support for his America First agenda,” Michael Glassner, Chief Operating Officer for Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. said in a statement.

President Trump has held four previous rallies in Mississippi since he first announced his candidacy for president in June 2015.

Neither Hyde-Smith nor Espy secured the 50 percent of votes needed to win the November 6 Senate election to serve the remaining two years of former Sen. Thad Cochran’s (R-MS) term, so the two are facing off next Tuesday in the runoff election, as required by state law.

Though President Trump easily won Mississippi by 18 points in 2016, Democrats are focusing their financial and political resources on this final contest of 2018 Senate race to pull of an upset.

Though control of the Senate is not at risk, the GOP is hoping to expand its narrow margin with a victory in Mississippi.

With Florida Gov. Rick Scott expected to emerge as the winner of the Florida Senate race after the manual recount ends on Sunday, Republicans anticipate holding a 52 to 47 advantage in the Senate prior to next Tuesday’s runoff election between Hyde-Smith and Espy.

Though Hyde-Smith has been considered the favorite in the race, the outcome of the election is still uncertain, as both candidates have committed significant gaffes recently.

A video of Hyde-Smith referring awkwardly to “public hangings” has been used by Democrats in an attempt to portray her as racially insensitive.

Espy has stumbled recently as well.

Last week, a Fox News report revealed a Department of Justice document that showed Espy lied to The Hill in March 2011, when he claimed that he had been paid only $400,000 by a trade group controlled by former Ivory Coast dictator Laurent Gbagbo, who is now on trial for crimes against humanity.

In fact, that document, signed upon penalty of perjury by Espsy in June 2011, showed that Espy”s firm had been paid $750,000 by the trade group.

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