Pfiz­er wants to reel back con­tri­bu­tions to Hyde-Smith af­ter her re­marks about ‘pub­lic hang­ing’ spark con­tro­ver­sy

Af­ter giv­ing Mis­sis­sip­pi Sen­a­tor Cindy Hyde-Smith $5,000 for her elec­tion bid this year, Pfiz­er $PFE now wants its mon­ey back.

Hyde-Smith land­ed up in the spot­light this week af­ter a video ap­peared on so­cial me­dia in which she told a sup­port­er who had praised her: “If he in­vit­ed me to a pub­lic hang­ing, I’d be on the front row.”

The com­ment im­me­di­ate­ly lit up a con­tro­ver­sy over a pos­si­ble al­lu­sion to a lynch­ing, a po­tent top­ic in a state which is 37% black.

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