After hours of waiting in line, from before the sun rose until the moment of President Donald Trump’s arrival, nearly 25,000 Mississippians showed up in Corinth on Monday to hear the commander-in-chief stump for Mississippi Republicans seeking election.
The Crossroads Arena in Corinth was packed with Mississippians in favor of the red, so much so that the building was over capacity, with some folks watching from the aisles, stairwells, and even a video stream outside.
The rally opened with a prayer, followed by the pledge of allegiance, and then a rendition of the national anthem by country singer Darryl Worley. A who’s who of Mississippi Republican officeholders and incumbents followed, taking turns stepping up to the podium to urge Mississippians to show up to vote for the Nov. 3 midterms.
“The critical, critical thing that I want you to hear [from] me tonight is we’ve got to all get out and vote,” Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith said. “I cannot stress that enough. Endorsements don’t win elections; votes win elections. Trent Kelly, the finest, finest guy that I could possibly serve with. We are so blessed to have Trent Kelly on the ballot. I’m looking at Michael Guest here; [he] is the most wonderful man to work with over on the House side.”
”We run down those halls and work with each other, and I just want you to know, please turn out to vote for Congressman Trent Kelly, because it is everything. Please turn out and vote for Michael Guest, Mike Ezell, because the president needs Republicans to keep this positive momentum going.”
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Politicians like Republican GOP Chair Mike Hurst, House District 1 Rep. Trent Kelly, Gov. Tate Reeves, and Hyde-Smith took the stage to emphasize not only the importance of voting, but also the need to uphold the conservative values they believe in. Things like gun rights, keeping abortion banned, issues of transgender athletes, and border control, among other topics, were mentioned as crucial policies the Republican officeholders in Mississippi support.
Then, after another song from Worley, a brief intermission took place while the president remained in transit. After that, a hype-video highlighting the president’s achievements played, as Trump made his entrance.
In his nearly hour-and-a-half-long speech, Trump covered an array of topics surrounding his presidency, including the war with Iran, the construction he is doing on the White House, and the renaming of the Gulf and one of the Great Lakes. However, sporadically throughout, the president also touted his fellow Republican politicians and urged the Mississippians in the crowd to vote red on Nov. 3.
“And on Nov. 3, the people of this state need to tell the radical-left Dumb-o-crats that Mississippi is not sending a Soros-communist to the Senate; you’re re-electing America-first patriot-hero Cindy Hyde-Smith,” Trump said.
“So in this election, if you would, I’m asking you to pretend that I’m on the ballot, and the reason is that when I’m on the ballot, exactly 49% more people show up. We’ve won every one of those times that I’m on the ballot, big. The problem is that when I’m not [on the ballot], they don’t show up as much. … You’re going to say, ‘Gee, I wish I’d shown up to vote.’ But early voting is underway, so go vote, and we want to win in a landslide.”
Trump highlighted some of his own successes and controversies, but he also took time to spotlight Hyde-Smith and what might make voters want to re-elect her.
“Cindy Hyde-Smith is a fierce advocate and a friend of mine for a long time and for this state,” Trump said. “For many years, she has delivered funding for 360 projects across the state, totaling over $2 billion, and very few people have a record like that. … Cindy Hyde-Smith is also leading the Buying American Cotton Act to strengthen Mississippi cotton farms and to bring back textiles and bring them back in big numbers to the USA.”
After spending more time talking about his administration, his history campaigning with Hyde-Smith, Democratic policymakers, and other topics of the president’s success or frustration, he said how much it matters to him and the Republican Party to keep Democratic Senate hopeful Scott Colom out of federal power.
“Scott Colom is campaigning to give drug addicts taxpayer-funded welfare, free healthcare to illegal aliens, and he supports deadly sanctuary cities that release illegal alien criminals into your American communities,” Trump said. “So, look, I don’t have to go into him; he’s a disaster, he wants to take your guns away, he wants to open your borders. You must re-elect Cindy Hyde-Smith.”
The president continued on, emphasizing how detrimental he believes Mississippians voting for a, as he coined it, “Dumb-o-crat” like Colom would be for the Magnolia State and the United States.
“The choice is very simple in this election,” the president explained. “You can vote for the radical-left Dumb-o-crat communist who will loot your wealth, raise your taxes by $5 trillion, annihilate your borders, decimate Mississippi farms and factories – you’re doing better as a state now than you’ve ever done before. [Colom will] mutilate your children and give 25 million illegal aliens amnesty and the right to vote, or you can defeat the Dumb-o-crat communist and vote more money in your pockets, bigger paychecks for your families, lower taxes, less crime, a booming Mississippi economy, and no amnesty for illegal aliens, so you must vote Republican.”