Posted on 08/24/2018 3:47:30 PM PDT by Yosemitest
Hyde-Smith, whom Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant appointed to the seat in April after longtime U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran retired, will face off in November against McDaniel and former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Espy, the only Democrat in the race.
Because of the nature of this special election, there will be no party primaries; all candidates will compete in a single jungle-style primary.
Over the course of the campaign, Hyde-Smith and McDaniel have both sought Trumps endorsement, with each spending significant time on the campaign trail singing the presidents praises and promising to fight for his agenda.
Cindy has voted for our Agenda in the Senate 100% of the time and has my complete and total Endorsement, Trump wrote in his endorsement.
We need Cindy to win in Mississippi !
In a press release, Hyde-Smith said she was honored to receive Trumps endorsement.
I have voted consistently for his agenda because I believe he is taking the right steps to make this country great againlowering taxes, securing the border and nominating true conservatives to the Supreme Court, Hyde-Smith said.
I thank him for his support, and I look forward to continuing to work with him on these and other issues.
McDaniel Blames Establishment
Shortly after the endorsement, McDaniel began an hours-long social-media blitz, promising in a Facebook post to be the toughest fighter for President Trumps America First agenda and suggesting the Republican Party establishment coerced Trump into the endorsement.
So the establishment GOP has pressured Trump into endorsing a lifelong Democrat.
I understand.
And I still support him, wrote McDaniel, who was at the Capitol in Jackson at the time for a special session of the Legislature to address infrastructure and the creation of a state lottery.
In a press release, Tommy Barnett, who is the the director of McDaniels super PAC, Remember Mississippi, criticized the decision.
Trump voters in Mississippi surely felt disappointment today as they watched the president endorse a lobbyist, Hillary Clinton supporter, and promoter of big government healthcare, over a lifelong conservative who will fight for the Presidents agenda, Barnett said, adding that McDaniel will not be a puppet under Mitch McConnells control.
McDaniel said he blames U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnellnot Trumpfor the presidents decision to endorse Hyde-Smith.
We all know how the establishment operates when it comes these endorsements, McDaniel wrote.
I'm sure Mitch McConnell lobbied the President extremely hard to support his hand picked Senator, a lifelong Democrat who supported Hillary Clinton.
For more than a month, the state senator from Ellisville has claimed that Hyde-Smith,who was a Democrat until she switched parties in 2010, secretly supported former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in at least one of Clintons presidential bids.
Speaking to the Jackson Free Press in early August, Hyde-Smith pulled her daughter, Anna-Michael Smith, 19, in for a hug and said she would swear on my daughters life, I never voted for Hillary Clinton.
Hours after that post, McDaniel retweeted Trumps tweet from 2014, in which he endorsed McDaniels failed attempt to overthrow Cochran in that years Republican primary.
Im proud to say Im the same conservative today, McDaniel wrote above the old tweet in which Trump called McDaniel a Constitutional Conservative wholl make a difference in Washington.
Minutes later, McDaniel took to Facebook again.
So President Trump has now endorsed John McCain, Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney, and Cindy Hyde-Smith, McDaniel wrote.
No worries.
He still needs our support.
We are here to help him drain the swamp.
In the comment sections of McDaniels Facebook posts, some McDaniel supporters pushed back against the Mississippi senators characterization of Trump.
Do you really think President Trump is a pushover? wrote Homer Williams, whose Facebook page lists Gulfport as his residence.
He aint pressured by anyone.
Of course not, McDaniel wrote back.
Hes a strong guy.
But the swamp is strong, too.
How else do you explain him endorsing Mitt Romney?
Other McDaniel supporters vented their frustration at Trump.
Im so disappointed in Trump, wrote Tommy Raines of New Albany.
He just lost my support.
If they try to impeach him, its gonna serve him right when Cindy votes yes.
Ive never been more broken hearted.
Three people liked Raines comment.
McDaniel was one of them.
In response to another supporters comment, McDaniel said he had been attempting to get in contact with Trump.
Half of his staff is the swamp, McDaniel wrote. Hes getting bad information.
Espy Hits Trump on Trade
In contrast to Hyde-Smith and McDaniel, Espy has been willing to criticize Trump and his policies directly.
In a press release Wednesday, Espy wrote that Trumps tariffs on Chinese goods and the ensuing trade war between the two nations is leading to a negative impact on economic growth and job creation and hurting Mississippi families that end up paying higher prices on everything from groceries to trucks.
While McDaniel has avoided overt criticisms of Trump throughout his U.S. Senate campaign, he criticized him repeatedly in Facebook comments during the 2016 Republican Party primary, calling Trump a liberal for his positions on tariffs and accusing him of supporting unconstitutional bailouts.
An Aug. 13 internal poll by the Espy campaign found him leading both Hyde-Smith and McDaniel in potential two-candidate runoffs.
In those scenarios, Espy led Hyde-Smith 41-38 and McDaniel 45-27.
Hyde-Smith is the first woman from Mississippi to become a U.S. senator.
Previously, she served as co-chair for the Agriculture Policy Advisory Council under Trump.
All three candidates will face off in Mississippi's special election for U.S. Senate on Nov. 6, 2018
It’s whoever can win in November. Can’t McDaniel go for the other seating 2020?
Now they're fighting to get Trump's endorsement.
How things have changed.
#MAGA
Bagster
So, two Republicans and one Democrat? What a great way to lose ANOTHER REPUBLICAN SEAT IN THE SENATE!
Won't that split the repub vote?
Ruh roh.
Bagster
This is The Turtle yielding to Mrs. Turtle.
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Sometimes his endorsements are head scratchers.
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Amen to that. Gawd how I hate the Barbours. Every last one of them!
The good news is that if no candidate wins more than 50 percent of the vote, a runoff will follow. Not like here in Arizona where Arpiao takes votes from Kelli Ward so that swamp RINO lying socialist McCain replacement McSally gets the GOP slot.
Like John McCain. Trump endorsed him.
So, the GOPe really wants to lose this seat, dont they?? This country is in deep trouble......
They go to Ole Miss or Jackson State, get in the right fraternity, make the right connections, wait your turn, "talk" conservative at home, ditch the Southern accent once you get to washington, make insider deals that bring more pork to mississippi, to hell with America and trying to make our nation great again.
Whew. Skurd me for a minute there.
No way the dem gets 50%
Bagster
.
The seat will go to Espy through the same fraud that they used in Alabama last time.
Massive busloads will cross state lines again.
That is how the Dems operate.
TRump should put US Marshalls at every precinct to stop buses from unloading.
Trump has to stop endorsing Bush League Republicans if we are ever to drain the swamp.
Just an FYI-McSally voted with Trump 90% of the time.........
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Every billionaire Democrat from California will fund the fraudulent vote bussing.
There will be more votes cast than there are people in Miss.
:)
Bagster
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