By Taylor Vance and Michael Goldberg | Originally published by Mississippi Today
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President Donald Trump is considering a trip to Mississippi next week to campaign for U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, according to multiple sources familiar with the situation.
Neither Hyde-Smith nor her campaign would confirm a Trump visit is imminent, but at an event in Vicksburg on Wednesday, Hyde-Smith told Mississippi Today that Trump is “trying to be helpful.”
“We feel very good about this,” Hyde-Smith told reporters. “It’s going to be 13 days, and we’re going to run through the tape so strong. I’m very proud of the record I have to run on. If he would like to, that would be fine.”
Trump has been traveling to normally safe Republican states ahead of the Nov. 3 midterms to try to drum up support and GOP voter turnout as his approval ratings have tanked and national pundits say races even in normally ruby red states are becoming more competitive.
It’s unclear where in Mississippi the president would visit, but a source familiar with the planning said Trump will likely visit the state next week. Sources indicated a Mississippi campaign stop by Trump is not definite, and his plans during his recent “midterm blitz” covering multiple states have been subject to change.
Scott Colom, the Democratic nominee, said in a statement that “Hyde-Smith is scared and that’s why she’s sending Donald Trump down here.”
“She’s scared to answer why she voted to cut health care, why she betrayed our farmers, and why she blocked the release of the Epstein files,” Colom said. “If she won’t answer for any of that, I challenge Donald Trump to a debate. Mississippians deserve to know why they are being betrayed.”
A day before former Vice President Kamala Harris was set to arrive in Mississippi for an afternoon of campaigning with Colom, Hyde-Smith said the presence of national Democratic figures could benefit her campaign.
“It tells me that Mississippi is pretty red,” Hyde-Smith said. “And for them to bring their message that Mississippians don’t always agree with, I’m OK with that.”
Hyde-Smith also said she was tuning out pollsters and prognosticators who have said the race has grown increasingly more competitive as Election Day nears.
“We’ve been at this for a while,” Hyde-Smith said. “It’s just like most all campaigns. In the last few days you hear a lot of noise. It’s just noise, and we have our clear message.”
Hyde-Smith appeared at the Vicksburg event alongside Mississippi’s other Republican U.S. Senator, Roger Wicker, and Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson. Wicker told Mississippi Today that former Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant intends to go on a bus tour with Hyde-Smith to campaign in the coming days.
Wicker, Mississippi’s senior senator, said he believes Hyde-Smith is still leading, despite increased enthusiasm about the race among Democrats.
“This is very much a Republican state at the federal level,” Wicker said. “Kamala Harris is not particularly popular among a majority of the voters in Mississippi. So it’s sort of a statement as to the political philosophies of the two candidates. Senator Hyde-Smith is a mainstream Republican, and her opponent is very much aligned with Kamala Harris and folks like that.”
Trump is backing Hyde-Smith, a Republican seeking her second full term. He announced his “Complete and Total Endorsement” on March 26, 2025, calling her “100% MAGA.” She faces Colom, a district attorney in north Mississippi, and independent Ty Pinkins, who is a lawyer, in the Nov. 3 election.
A Democrat hasn’t won a U.S. Senate race in Mississippi since 1982, and Trump carried the state by about 23 points in 2024. Most national forecasters rate the race solid or likely Republican.
National Democrats have invested heavily in Colom’s race in recent weeks. Senate Majority PAC announced a $1.2-million ad buy to help Colom this week. Former Vice President Kamala Harris is campaigning for Colom in Columbus, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is slated for the Gulf Coast, and Sen. Raphael Warnock held a Jackson rally. Barack Obama has also endorsed Colom.
Thompson, the state’s lone Democratic member of Congress, said Colom’s strength as a candidate presented his party with a rare opportunity to be competitive in a state Republicans have dominated for years.
“I think Scott’s running a textbook campaign. He’s getting out, meeting the voters and doing things that create energy around the campaign,” Thompson said. “The energy level is catching based on his support. So I’m excited about it. He’s what I think is a first-class candidate for Democrats to have.”
Thompson spoke to Mississippi Today a day after a Super PAC aligned with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced a $1.2 million ad campaign on behalf of Colom. It was the PAC’s first infusion of funds into the race, and Thompson had previously been critical of national Democrats for failing to invest more in Colom’s campaign. On Wednesday, Thompson applauded Schumer’s investment, and said Democrats would increasingly look to the South in the future as newly competitive terrain.
“It means that people are looking South for direction,” Thompson said. “Historically, Democrats have written the South off. But with this investment and the number of people coming to the South, and it means we’re now in play again, and I think it’s a good thing. The future of the Democratic Party rests in the South.”
Whether Trump’s presence would help Hyde-Smith is an open question. Mississippi has consistently voted for Republican presidents since 1980, but Trump’s unpopular decision to start a war with Iran, along with tariff trade wars with numerous countries, has driven consumer prices up.
Trump has visited Mississippi several times. He visited Jackson in 2016 to campaign as the Republican presidential nominee, attended the opening of the Two Mississippi Museums in Jackson in 2017, spoke at a DeSoto County rally in 2018, and made a two-stop visit that same year to stump for Hyde-Smith in Tupelo and Biloxi. He also hosted a 2019 campaign rally in 2019 for Gov. Tate Reeves.
