--- title: MLB Wants $5,000 Donation Back From Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith description: MLB has asked the campaign of Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith to return its $5,000 donation amid outcry over numerous racially insensitive remarks canonical: https://time.com/5462911/mlb-donation-back-senate-cindy-hyde-smith/ author: Alejandro de la Garza article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-11-25T22:08:13.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-13T08:07:02.808Z article:section: Politics og:title: Major League Baseball Asks for Its $5000 Campaign Donation Back From Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith og:description: Amid outcry over racially insensitive remarks, the MLB wants its money back og:url: https://time.com/5462911/mlb-donation-back-senate-cindy-hyde-smith/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte1c27f916704c8d6/69893fdb7cdbac3a8fd5e81f/mlb-cindy-hyde-smith.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: US-POLITICS-TRUMP og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Major League Baseball Asks for Its $5000 Campaign Donation Back From Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith twitter:description: Amid outcry over racially insensitive remarks, the MLB wants its money back twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte1c27f916704c8d6/69893fdb7cdbac3a8fd5e81f/mlb-cindy-hyde-smith.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Major League Baseball Asks for Its $5,000 Campaign Donation Back From Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME Newsletters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME publishes seven free email newsletters, written and edited by TIME journalists, reaching more than 1.1 million engaged readers. TIME has reported on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world since 1923, and its newsletters bring that same authority directly to the inbox. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=0e260746-e105-4542-a405-9313fb1524ee&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Cindy Hyde-Smith for U.S. Senate — 'Ready for the Runoff' [Watch (HLS stream): Cindy Hyde-Smith for U.S. Senate — 'Ready for the Runoff'](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/9CjeKeif.m3u8) (0:30)  _Published 2018-11-12. Cindy Hyde-Smith for U.S. Senate — 'Ready for the Runoff'_  by [Alejandro de la Garza](https://time.com/author/alejandro-de-la-garza/)  ## Alejandro de la Garza Nov 25, 2018 10:08 PM UTC  by [Alejandro de la Garza](https://time.com/author/alejandro-de-la-garza/)  ## Alejandro de la Garza Nov 25, 2018 10:08 PM UTC When lobbyists for Major League Baseball made a donation in connection with a political event on Friday, they probably didn’t expect to ask for it back two days later. Amid outcry over racially insensitive remarks made by Mississippi Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith earlier this month, the MLB has asked her campaign to return its $5,000 donation. On a Nov. 2 campaign stop, Sen. Hyde-Smith was captured in [a viral video making remarks](http://time.com/5451713/mississippi-cindy-hyde-smith-public-hanging/) about attending a “public hanging.” > [](https://twitter.com/LamarWhiteJr/status/1061649185110417408) “If he invited me to a public hanging, I’d be in the front row,” Sen. Hyde-Smith said, referring to a supporter. Her opponent in Tuesday’s run-off election, former Democratic Representative Mike Espy, is an African-American. Hyde-Smith subsequently gave [a partial apology](http://time.com/5461133/cindy-hyde-smith-public-hanging-lynching/) during a Nov. 20 debate against Espy. “For anyone that was offended by my comments, I certainly apologize,” she said. “There was no ill will, no intent whatsoever in my statements.” She then noted “this comment was twisted and it was turned into a weapon to be used against me.” The MLB made its contribution to her campaign weeks after the senator made those comments. “The contribution was made in connection with an event that MLB lobbyists were asked to attend,” the league said in a statement issued Sunday, [reported the Daily Beast](https://www.thedailybeast.com/major-league-baseball-asks-cindy-hyde-smith-to-return-dollar5000-donation). “MLB has requested that the contribution be returned.” Several companies, including [Walmart](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/11/20/cindy-hyde-smith-walmart-donation-hanging-comment/2073351002/), have recently asked her campaign to return donations following the comment, [reported USA Today](https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2018/11/25/cindy-hyde-smith-mlb-wants-5-000-donation-back-wake-comments/2107659002/). It’s not the first controversy that Hyde-Smith has caused. In 2014, she posted a picture on her Facebook page showing her posing at the Jefferson Davis homestead holding a rifle and wearing a Confederate hat, [reported the Washington _Post_](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/cindy-hyde-smith-has-embraced-confederate-history-more-than-once-in-her-political-career/2018/11/22/2d8ac440-ed0c-11e8-baac-2a674e91502b%5Fstory.html?noredirect=on&utm%5Fterm=.2b617918b2bb). “Mississippi history at its best!” she wrote. Hyde-Smith has also been caught on video making jokes about voter suppression. > [](https://twitter.com/LamarWhiteJr/status/1063192983254822912) ## Transcript I'm Cindy Hyde- Smith and I approve this message. Right now I know everyone is getting ready for Thanksgiving and thinking about family, food and football, not politics. I wanna wish you a happy Thanksgiving and also remind you that we have an important Senate runoff election on November the 27th. There's so much at stake for our country, and you now have a clear choice. If you believe in conservative principles of lower taxes, less government, and more freedom, I'm asking for your vote so I can keep working with President Trump to change Washington. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5462911/mlb-donation-back-senate-cindy-hyde-smith/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5462911/mlb-donation-back-senate-cindy-hyde-smith/"},"headline":"Major League Baseball Asks for Its $5,000 Campaign Donation Back From Sen. 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