Mississippi Senator Endorses Trump the Night Before His Arraignment

Mississippi Senator Endorses Trump the Night Before His Arraignment
Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) speaks alongside President Donald Trump during a "Keep America Great" campaign rally at BancorpSouth Arena on November 1, 2019 in Tupelo, Mississippi. Trump is campaigning in Mississippi ahead of a state gubernatorial election where Republican Tate Reeves is in a close race with Democrat Jim Hood. Reeves won the election. (Photo by Brandon Dill/Getty Images)
Matt McGregor
4/4/2023
Updated:
4/5/2023
0:00

Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) threw her support behind former President Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential bid on the evening of April 3, the day before Trump’s arraignment.

Hyde, who became the first woman to represent Mississippi when she was sworn into Congress in 2018, was formerly a Democrat who switched parties in 2010.

She called the prosecution of Trump “a political stunt by a prosecutor whose campaign was funded by George Soros,” referring to the left-wing billionaire financier.

“That charade is all about self-promotion by the prosecutor and has nothing to do with justice,” Hyde-Smith said in a statement on Twitter. “I believe the whole affair will backfire on the prosecutor and Democrats.”

According to The Hill, Hyde-Smith joins six other Republican senators in their endorsement of Trump’s campaign.

Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), and J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) have all made similar endorsements.

On Friday, Graham called the indictment “shocking, dangerous, and one of the most irresponsible decisions in American history by any prosecutor.”

Hyde-Smith went on to promote Trump’s policies that she said improved America, such as his securing of the U.S.-Mexico border.

Trump, she said, cut taxes, appointed conservative judges, increased wages, and made the country energy independent, in addition to cultivating a healthy economy and garnering respect from nations around the world.

“I support a return to those policies and to President Trump’s effective leadership,” Hyde-Smith said.

She added that the former president has also “been attentive to the needs of Mississippi,” making several trips to the Magnolia state.

“Therefore, I am endorsing Donald J. Trump for another term in the White House and will be working to assist him in winning the Republican nomination for President in 2024,” Hyde-Smith said.

Campaign Fundraising Skyrockets

The Make American Great Again Inc. political action committee announced that fundraising for Trump’s campaign has skyrocketed to $7 million in the three days since Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg voted on Thursday to indict.

Twenty-five percent of the donations came from first-time donors, the committee said.

“This incredible surge of grassroots contributions confirms that the American people see the indictment of President Trump as a disgraceful weaponization of our justice system by a Soros-funded prosecutor,” the committee said.

The Manhattan district attorney’s office has been investigating what it alleges to be Trump’s hush-money scheme involving his personal attorney Michael Cohen paying $130,000 to adult performer Stormy Daniels weeks before the 2016 presidential election.

It is alleged that the money was to bribe Daniels to remain silent about an alleged affair with Trump over a decade prior, which Trump denies happened.

Bragg’s motives for the indictment have been called into question by Republicans considering Bragg’s connection to Soros, who is known for funding left-wing prosecutors and political candidates.

Though Soros denied having a connection to Bragg, according to Open Secrets, in May 2021 Soros donated $1 million to the Color of Change—political action committee that pledged over $1 million to an independent expenditure campaign to support Bragg.

Trump, now the first president to ever face criminal charges, pleaded not guilty to 34 felony criminal charges of falsifying business records and is expected to give a public statement tonight.

Tom Ozimek and Jana J. Pruet contributed to this report.