Miss. Senator Went to All-White School, Ducked Integration

Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith is facing a runoff election on Tuesday, and the Jackson Free Press has some less-than-helpful news in the wake of the Republican's "public hanging" comments. Prior to graduating high school in 1977, Hyde-Smith attended a segregation academy meant to allow white parents the opportunity to avoid sending their children to school with black children, well after the Supreme Court ordered desegregation in 1955. The Lawrence County Academy was founded in 1970, meaning Hyde-Smith attended another prior to that, but she years later sent her own daughter to a similar school founded the same year, the Brookhaven Academy. CNN, meanwhile, reports that Hyde-Smith in 2007 pushed legislation that praised a Confederate soldier's effort "to defend his homeland."

Team Hyde-Smith is having none of it, with a rep saying in a statement: "In their latest attempt to help Mike Espy, the gotcha liberal media has taken leave of their senses. They have stooped to a new low, attacking her entire family and trying to destroy her personally." President Trump is also rallying to Hyde-Smith's side, tweeting that he'll be attending two rallies Tuesday in her support and that "She is an outstanding person who is strong on the Border, Crime, Military, our great Vets, Healthcare & the 2nd A. Needed in D.C." (More Cindy Hyde-Smith stories.)