Major League Baseball came under fire over the weekend when word surfaced that the organization donated to the campaign of Mississippi Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, but officials say they have asked that the contribution be returned.
According to public records obtained by Judd Legum of Popular Information, MLB donated the legal maximum of $5,000 to Hyde-Smith’s campaign on Nov. 23. The contribution was heavily scrutinized because Hyde-Smith thanked her host at a public appearance earlier in the month by joking, “If he invited me to a public hanging, I’d be on the front row.”
"If he invited me to a public hanging, I'd be on the front row"- Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith says in Tupelo, MS after Colin Hutchinson, cattle rancher, praises her.
Hyde-Smith is in a runoff on Nov 27th against Mike Espy. pic.twitter.com/0a9jOEjokr
— Lamar White, Jr. (@LamarWhiteJr) November 11, 2018
Several organizations that donated to Hyde-Smith’s campaign before she made the remark asked for their contributions to be returned, and MLB did the same on Sunday despite donating the $5,000 after the comment.
From MLB spokesperson, about the $5,000 donation to Senate candidate Cindy Hyde-Smith: "The contribution was made in connection with an event that MLB lobbyists were asked to attend. MLB has requested that the contribution be returned."
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) November 25, 2018
The remark from Hyde-Smith came on Nov. 11, but MLB insists it was unaware of it until after giving the $5,000.
MLB adds that its contribution came before it was aware of Cindy Hyde-Smith’s reprehensible comments
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) November 25, 2018
Many find that hard to believe and insist MLB only asked for the money back after realizing how strongly people felt about the donation.
