Mississippi Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith unequivocally tied her campaign to President Trump, twice promoting upcoming rallies with the president during a debate against her Democratic opponent Mike Espy.
In her opening and closing remarks at Tuesday’s debate, Hyde-Smith told her supporters to go to Trump’s campaign website to get tickets to Monday’s rallies.
Trump is holding rallies in Tupelo and Biloxi before Tuesday’s run-off election for the Senate seat.
“There’s two other big events that will be coming up next week. On Monday night, the night before the election of Nov. 26, the president of the United States is coming to Mississippi to campaign on my behalf,” she said in her opening statement.
“I encourage you right now to go online at donaldjtrump.com and get those free tickets,” she said.
Hyde-Smith, who was appointed senator in March, and Espy, a former congressman and U.S. agriculture secretary, are in a run-off special election for the remainder of former Sen. Thad Cochran’s term as the top two vote-getters after no candidate received a majority of the vote on Nov. 6.
Hyde-Smith repeated the promotion in her closing statement: “Again, next week, there’s two big important events coming up. We will have the president of the United States [coming] to Mississippi to campaign on my behalf. … Right now, you can go to donaldjtrump.com and get those tickets.”
“I am the candidate that Donald J. Trump has said, ‘Cindy, we need you back,’” she said.
Hyde-Smith has had several missteps in recent days, including a joke about “public hangings” and photos showing her wearing a Confederate solider hat with the caption, “Mississippi history at its best.”
Trump defended the Republican senator Tuesday, calling her a “spectacular woman.”
“She’s a great senator,” he said. “She came in and she’s done a fantastic job in a short period of time.”
[Read more: Walmart joins other US companies in ditching GOP’s Cindy Hyde-Smith after ‘public hanging’ remarks]
