WASHINGTON — When video surfaced last month of Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi telling a supporter she would be “on the front row” if he invited her to a “public hanging,” some of the country’s largest corporations found themselves in a public relations nightmare. Having cut checks to Ms. Hyde-Smith’s campaign, they risked association with comments that were quickly condemned by her Democratic opponent, a black man, and national civil rights groups as “racially tinged” and highly offensive, particularly in a state haunted by a history of lynchings. Almost a dozen companies and one major sports league issued public statements condemning what she had said and asked for refunds. But almost three weeks after Ms. Hyde-Smith, a Republican, defeated the Democrat, Mike Espy, in a runoff election, it appears that only one of the donors has received any of the more than $50,000 in total that the senator has been asked to return. Ms. Hyde-Smith’s campaign told at least one company, Walmart, on Thursday that it did not intend to refund its money.

Source: New York Times December 14, 2018 20:05 UTC