Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith is campaigning in a runoff against Democrat Mike Espy on Nov. 27. | AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis Elections Walmart seeks refund from Hyde-Smith after 'public hanging' comment Several other companies have asked the Republican senator for their campaign contributions back. 
 
 Walmart wants its money back from Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith. 
 
 The retail behemoth asked Hyde-Smith to return its campaign contribution after the Mississippi Republican praised a supporter by saying, "If he invited me to a public hanging, I'd be on the front row." Hyde-Smith said the statement was made in jest and denied any racial connotation. 
 
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 Walmart responded to a tweet from actress Debra Messing pointing out that the company had donated to Hyde-Smith. "Completely understand your concern," Walmart tweeted from its official company account. "Sen. Hyde Smith's recent comments clearly do not reflect the values of our company and associates. As a result, we are withdrawing our support and requesting a refund of all campaign donations." The company gave $2,000 to the senator. 
 
 Walmart is the latest of several major companies to request refunds from Hyde-Smith's campaign following the controversy over her remarks. She has not apologized for the "public hanging" comment, which she called an "exaggerated expression of regard." 
 
 Hyde-Smith is campaigning in a runoff against Democrat Mike Espy on Nov. 27. A spokesman for her campaign declined to comment. 
 
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 Railroad giant Union Pacific and Boston Scientific, a medical device manufacturer, also asked for their campaign donations to be returned. Both companies sent out dozens of replies on Twitter to users who were criticizing them for the donations. 
 
 "Union Pacific in no way, shape or form condones or supports divisive or perceived to be divisive statements," the company tweeted. "Our contribution was mailed prior to Hyde-Smith's statement being made public. Union Pacific has requested a refund of our contribution." 
 
 "We were not aware of Senator Hyde-Smith’s remarks when this contribution was made on November 8, and we have requested a refund," Boston Scientific tweeted. "We reject the Senator’s statements, which are not aligned with our company’s core values." ||||| Who really won the midterms? Why both parties can claim victories 3:59 PM ET Fri, 9 Nov 2018 | 04:41 
 
 "Sen. Hyde-Smith's recent comments clearly do not reflect the values of our company and associates. As a result, we are withdrawing our support and requesting a refund of all campaign donations," Walmart said in the tweet. 
 
 Later Tuesday, when asked by CNBC about its own donation to Hyde-Smith, a spokesman for telecommunications behemoth AT&T said, "We are no longer supporting Senator Hyde-Smith and have requested a refund of our campaign contributions." 
 
 AT&T had contributed $2,000 to Hyde-Smith prior to November. 
 
 The scientific research company Leidos then told CNBC on Tuesday, "We have already requested a refund." Leidos had contributed $5,000 to Hyde-Smith. 
 
 "Remarks like those made by Senator Hyde-Smith are offensive and an affront to everything we stand for as a company. The money was sent before the remarks were public. If Leidos had been aware, we would not have made the contribution and are pursuing a refund of our contribution," the company said. 
 
 Hyde-Smith's campaign did not respond to a request for comment. 
 
 Also Tuesday, a Facebook post Hyde-Smith made in 2014 resurfaced, showing her smilingly posing wearing a Confederate cap and holding a rifle. Hyde-Smith, who took the photo while visiting the home of Confederate States of America president Jefferson Davis, wrote, "Mississippi history at its best!" in a caption accompanying the image. 
 
 In addition to AT&T, Leidos and Walmart, two other companies, Union Pacific and Boston Scientific, had already asked for their money back Monday. 
 
 All five companies acted after corporate contributions to the GOP incumbent were highlighted by the news site Popular Information, whose article about the donations was tweeted by Messing. 
 
 Federal election filings revealed that Walmart had contributed $2,000 to the campaign of Hyde-Smith. 
 
 That contribution reportedly was made Nov. 18 — around a week after the first reports that Hyde-Smith had talked about attending a hanging. 
 
 In June, Walmart had given Hyde-Smith's campaign an initial $1,000 donation. 
 
 Filings show that Blackstone's Schwarzman made his own $2,700 contribution to the senator on Nov. 14, days after exposure of her "hanging" comment. However, it is not clear if in fact that was the date the contribution was actually made, or merely reported. 
 
 On Nov. 2, Hyde-Smith, while attending a campaign stop in Tupelo, referred to a local rancher standing next to her, and said that if he "invited me to a public hanging I'd be on the front row." 
 
 That comment sparked a firestorm of criticism after it became widely known. 
 
 Mississippi has a history of lynching African-Americans and Hyde-Smith's opponent, Espy, is black. 
 
 Espy's spokesman, Danny Blanton, said, "Cindy Hyde-Smith's comments have embarrassed Mississippi, and shown why she can't be trusted to work with the businesses Mississippi needs to grow good paying jobs." 
 
 "We're confident that voters will follow Walmart's lead and dump Cindy Hyde-Smith before she has the power to do real damage to our economy," Blanton said. ||||| Democrat Mike Espy responds to a statement from his opponent, appointed U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., during a televised Mississippi U.S. Senate debate in Jackson, Miss., Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2018.... (Associated Press) 
 
 JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A white Republican U.S. senator from Mississippi said during a debate with her African-American Democratic opponent Tuesday night that she apologizes to people who were offended when she complimented a supporter by saying she would attend a "public hanging" if the supporter invited her. 
 
 Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith's remark was caught on video that was released last week. It has brought widespread criticism both inside and outside Mississippi, a state with a history of racially motivated lynchings. 
 
 "For anyone that was offended by my comments, I certainly apologize. There was no ill will, no intent whatsoever in my statement," Hyde-Smith said Tuesday during a televised debate with Democrat Mike Espy. 
 
 The apology was a new approach for Hyde-Smith, who repeatedly refused to answer questions about the hanging comment at a news conference Nov. 12, the day after the publisher of a liberal-leaning news site posted the video on Facebook and Twitter. 
 
 The clip shows Hyde-Smith praising a cattle rancher at a Nov. 2 campaign event in Tupelo by saying: "If he invited me to a public hanging, I'd be on the front row." Shortly after the video's release, she said in a statement that the expression was an "exaggerated expression of regard" and said it is "ridiculous" to read any negative connotation into it. 
 
 "There has never been anything, not one thing, in my background to ever indicate I had ill will toward anyone," Hyde-Smith, a former state agriculture commissioner, said Tuesday night. "I've never been hurtful to anyone. I've always tried to help everyone. I also recognize that this comment was twisted and it was turned into a weapon to be used against me, a political weapon used for nothing but personal and political gain by my opponent. That's the type of politics Mississippians are sick and tired of." 
 
 Espy responded during the debate: "No one's twisted your comments because your comments were live, you know, it came out of your mouth. I don't know what's in your heart but I know what came out of your mouth. It went viral in the first three minutes around the world. And so it's caused our state harm. It's given our state another black eye that we don't need. It's just rejuvenated those stereotypes that we don't need anymore." 
 
 Hyde-Smith is the first woman to represent Mississippi in Congress. Espy is a former congressman and U.S. agriculture secretary, is seeking to become the state's first African-American senator since Reconstruction. 
 
 During the debate, Hyde-Smith questioned a $750,000 lobbying contract Espy had in 2011 with the Cocoa and Coffee Board of the Ivory Coast. She noted that the country's ex-president, Laurent Gbagbo, is being tried in the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity, including, Hyde-Smith said, "murder, rape and unspeakable things against young girls." 
 
 "I don't know how many Mississippians can really relate to an income that can command a $750,000 check from one person for a lobbying job," said Hyde-Smith, who is a cattle rancher. 
 
 Espy, who is an attorney, said: "I found out later that this guy, the president, was a really bad guy. I resigned the contract." 
 
 Federal registration papers show Espy terminated the contract two weeks before its scheduled end. 
 
 Hours before Tuesday's debate, President Donald Trump defended Hyde-Smith's "public hanging" remark, saying at the White House that she loves the people of Mississippi and the U.S. 
 
 "It was just sort of said in jest," Trump said. "She's a tremendous woman and it's a shame that she has to go through this." 
 
 Walmart asked Hyde-Smith to return a $2,000 campaign contribution because of the hanging remark. Walmart spokeswoman LeMia Jenkins said Tuesday that the company donated to Hyde-Smith Nov. 8, three days before the release of the video with the "public hanging" remark. 
 
 "Sen. Hyde-Smith's recent comments clearly do not reflect the values of our company and associates," Jenkins said in a statement. "As a result, we are withdrawing our support and requesting a refund of all campaign donations." 
 
 Hyde-Smith's campaign did not respond to questions from The Associated Press about whether it would refund Walmart's contribution. 
 
 Senate races rarely gain national attention in Mississippi, a deeply conservative state. But this matchup — the last major race of the 2018 midterms — has drawn scrutiny after Hyde-Smith's remarks. 
 
 Trump is traveling to Mississippi for two Hyde-Smith rallies Monday on the eve of the election. Former Vice President Joe Biden has endorsed Espy. 
 
 Hyde-Smith was appointed to the Senate to temporarily succeed longtime Sen. Thad Cochran, who retired in April amid health concerns. She is the first woman to represent Mississippi in Congress. 
 
 Hyde-Smith and Espy each received about 41 percent of the vote when four candidates were on the ballot Nov. 6. If she wins the Nov. 27 runoff, Hyde-Smith would give Republicans a 53-47 majority in the Senate. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Associated Press writer Zeke Miller contributed from Washington. For AP's complete coverage of the U.S. midterm elections: http://apne.ws/APPolitics . Follow Emily Wagster Pettus on Twitter: http://twitter.com/EWagsterPettus . ||||| Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith and Democrat Mike Espy shake hands following their Senate debate. | Rogelio V. Solis, Pool/AP Photo Elections Hyde-Smith apologizes 'to anyone offended' by public hanging remark In the sole debate of her Senate runoff against Democrat Mike Espy, the Republican accuses her rivals of twisting her words for political gain. 
 
 Mississippi Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith on Tuesday offered her first qualified apology to “anyone that was offended” by her remark that she would gladly attend a “public hanging” if one of her supporters invited her. 
 
 In the lone public debate of the runoff Senate election between Hyde-Smith and Democrat Mike Espy, the Republican senator said she meant no ill will by her remark, which she said was made to express her deep regard for a young supporter. But then she accused Democrats of distorting her comment, which was caught on video, for political gain. 
 
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 "My comments [did not] mean I would enjoy any type of capital punishment sitting there witnessing this. You know, for anyone that was offended by my comments, I certainly apologize. There was no ill will, no intent whatsoever in my statements," she said. But Hyde-Smith added, "This comment was twisted and it was turned into a weapon to be used against me. A political weapon used for nothing but personal and political gain by my opponent." 
 
 Espy, who is African-American, said the episode has been an embarrassment to Mississippi, reinforcing stereotypes and giving "our state another black eye that we don't need." 
 
 "No one twisted your comments because your comments were live, it came out of your mouth," Espy said. "I don't know what's in your heart, but we all know came out of your mouth." 
 
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 The exchange came during an hourlong debate in which the two sparred over ethics, health care, President Donald Trump and his proposed wall on the Mexican border. Hyde-Smith attacked Espy over money he'd received from an Ivory Coast dictator as a lobbyist — a charge to which Espy had an anemic response. Espy tried to portray Hyde-Smith as a blind ally of the president, even when his policies hurt Mississippians, such as farmers and people with pre-existing health conditions. 
 
 The debate came one week before the Nov. 27 election between the two, which was forced when neither candidate received more than 50 percent in the first round of voting on Nov. 6. Hyde-Smith opened and closed the debate by hyping two campaign rallies Trump is holding to support her Monday, the eve of the election, a sign of how much she is relying on the president to help turn out voters given the unusual timing of the runoff. 
 
 Hyde-Smith also repeatedly attacked Espy as a liberal who would follow Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer's marching orders. 
 
 She repeatedly brought up the hundreds of thousands of dollars Espy received from a former Ivory Coast dictator, attacking his past work as a lobbyist as corrupt. Espy said he went to the Ivory Coast to help local farmers, and that once he learned about the nation's leader, he reported those facts to the CIA and canceled the remainder of his contract. 
 
 Espy tried to paint himself as above partisan squabbling. He also disagreed with several administration policies, calling Trump's tariffs a "wrongheaded policy" that hurt Mississippi farmers and labeling the proposed border wall "impractical." 
 
 He attacked Hyde-Smith repeatedly on health care, claiming that her opposition to a resolution that would have banned skimpy insurance plans was a vote against protections for pre-existing conditions. Hyde-Smith said she knew what she was voting for, and claimed the bill would not have hurt patients. She also touted her co-sponsorship of a bill from Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) that would protect patients with pre-existing conditions. Espy said that particular bill was a "sham" that wouldn't actually provide those protections. 
 
 Hyde-Smith came under fire in the days leading up to the debate over her remark to a supporter early this month that she would be in "the front row" if he invited her to a “public hanging.” In addition to repeatedly attacking her about it during the debate, Espy released a TV ad hours before in which a narrator warns Mississippians, “We can’t afford a senator who embarrasses us and reinforces the stereotypes we’ve worked hard to overcome.” 
 
 Outside Democratic groups have pounced on the "public hanging" remark and another offhand comment by Hyde-Smith, also caught on video, that it was a "great idea" to make it harder for "liberal folks" to vote. Hyde-Smith said she was joking in both cases and that there was no racial intent in her remarks. 
 
 Several major companies, including Walmart, asked for their campaign donations to Hyde-Smith to be returned. 
 
 Republicans, meanwhile, have attacked Espy, a former congressman and Cabinet secretary, as both a run-of-the-mill Democrat and a corrupt Washington insider. They’ve criticized Espy for his past as a lobbyist and for his time as Agriculture secretary under President Bill Clinton. One ad, from the super PAC Senate Leadership Fund, called him a “shady Clinton crony.” 
 
 Espy was forced to resign following an indictment on charges that he improperly took gifts while in office, though he was later acquitted on all charges. 
 
 Hyde-Smith has also leaned heavily on Trump in a state he won by nearly 20 percentage points. Her campaign released a TV ad this week featuring clips of Trump bashing Espy and endorsing Hyde-Smith during his most recent rally in Mississippi, in early October. 
 
 A Democrat hasn’t won a Senate seat in Mississippi since 1982, and both parties view Hyde-Smith as a clear favorite in the race, though Democrats hope that the combination of Hyde-Smith's recent remarks and the odd timing of the election just a few days after Thanksgiving could give Espy a boost. 
 
 Hyde-Smith was appointed to the seat by Gov. Phil Bryant earlier this year after Republican Sen. Thad Cochran retired for health reasons. Hyde-Smith and Espy are in a runoff after neither candidate received a majority in the first round of voting on Election Day. Republican Chris McDaniel, who nearly toppled Cochran in a primary four years ago, finished a distant third. 
 
 If Hyde-Smith wins, Republicans will have a 53-47 Senate majority in the next Congress.
– A week before a runoff election that will determine whether she remains a senator, Mississippi's Cindy Hyde-Smith continues to fend off bad publicity over a "public hanging" joke. The latest development is that Walmart has asked the Republican incumbent to return its campaign donations, reports CNBC. "Sen. Hyde-Smith's recent comments clearly do not reflect the values of our company and associates," said Walmart in replying to a critical tweet from actress Debra Messing. "As a result, we are withdrawing our support and requesting a refund of all campaign donations." The company had given Hyde-Smith, who faces Democrat Mike Espy in a Nov. 27 runoff, two donations for a total of $2,000. All of this stems from remarks Hyde-Smith made on the campaign trail, when referring to a local rancher and supporter of hers. If he "invited me to a public hanging, I'd be on the front row," she said. Hyde-Smith has refused to apologize, saying critics are distorting what were good-natured comments, but critics say Mississippi in particular is no place to be making such jokes. Union Pacific and medical device manufacturer Boston Scientific have similarly requested their campaign donations back, reports Politico. (Elsewhere, Democratic candidates have routed Republicans in Orange County, California, a once-red House region.)