--- title: Google Asks Cindy Hyde-Smith to Refund Campaign Donation description: Google requested Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith's campaign return its $5,000 contribution in light of her controversial statements. canonical: https://time.com/5464123/google-cindy-hyde-smith-campaign-contribution/ author: Mahita Gajanan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-11-27T00:39:38.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T22:07:59.379Z article:section: Politics og:title: Google Joins Companies Asking Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith for Campaign Donation Refund og:description: Google requested the campaign return its $5,000 contribution og:url: https://time.com/5464123/google-cindy-hyde-smith-campaign-contribution/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt28a57d24ed24a798/69893fe9bc6cfc8c7e3e787c/cindy-hyde-smith-google.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2795 og:image:height: 1572 og:image:alt: President Trump Holds Rally For Mississippi GOP Senate Candidate Cindy Hyde-Smith In Tupelo og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Google Joins Companies Asking Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith for Campaign Donation Refund twitter:description: Google requested the campaign return its $5,000 contribution twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt28a57d24ed24a798/69893fe9bc6cfc8c7e3e787c/cindy-hyde-smith-google.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Google Joins Companies Asking Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith for Campaign Donation Refund > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. 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Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Nov 27, 2018 12:39 AM UTC  Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Cindy Hyde-Smith and President Donald Trump wave as they exit Air Force One as they arrive for a rally at the Tupelo Regional Airport, November 26, 2018 in Tupelo, Mississippi. Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Cindy Hyde-Smith and President Donald Trump wave as they exit Air Force One as they arrive for a rally at the Tupelo Regional Airport, November 26, 2018 in Tupelo, Mississippi. Drew Angerer—Getty Images by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Nov 27, 2018 12:39 AM UTC Google has asked Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith to refund its $5,000 campaign contribution in light of controversy surrounding racially insensitive remarks the Mississippi Republican made earlier this month. “We can confirm this is accurate,” a Google spokesperson told TIME. The refund request comes as Hyde-Smith faces the fallout for her comments about [attending a “public hanging”](http://time.com/5451713/mississippi-cindy-hyde-smith-public-hanging/) during a campaign stop on Nov. 2. “If he invited me to a public hanging, I’d be in the front row,” Hyde-Smith said in reference to one of her supporters. She faces Mike Espy, a black Democrat, in a runoff election Tuesday. > [](https://twitter.com/LamarWhiteJr/status/1061649185110417408) She has also joked about voter suppression, saying earlier in November that “maybe we want to make it just a little more difficult” for “liberal folks” to vote. Both comments have been widely interpreted as racist. Mississippi has a [long history](http://time.com/5451713/mississippi-cindy-hyde-smith-public-hanging/) of racially-motivated lynchings of black people and of suppressing voters. Representatives for Google did not say when the company made its donation to Hyde-Smith’s campaign or when a refund was requested. The tech giant joins several companies and groups that have requested refunds from Hyde-Smith’s campaign, including [Major League Baseball](http://time.com/5462911/mlb-donation-back-senate-cindy-hyde-smith/) and Walmart. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5464123/google-cindy-hyde-smith-campaign-contribution/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5464123/google-cindy-hyde-smith-campaign-contribution/"},"headline":"Google Joins Companies Asking Sen. 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