JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The spokesman for a Democratic challenger says Republican U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith "embarrasses" Mississippi when she talks about making voting more difficult.
A video released Thursday shows Hyde-Smith talking about "liberal folks" and making it "just a little more difficult" for them to vote.
Her campaign spokeswoman Melissa Scallan says the senator was joking.
Hyde-Smith, who is white, faces Democrat Mike Espy, who is black, in a Nov. 27 runoff. The winner gets the final two years of a six-year term.
Espy campaign spokesman Danny Blanton says "voting rights were obtained through sweat and blood."
A video released Sunday showed Hyde-Smith praising a supporter by saying: "If he invited me to a public hanging, I'd be on the front row." Hyde-Smith said that was "an exaggerated expression of regard."
