Political columnist says Mississippi senator’s comments about God, Sabbath ‘dumbest thing’ he has heard
Published 9:13 am Thursday, March 25, 2021
Mississippi Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith raised the eyebrows of one political columnist and likely several Democratic senators when she told a Senate committee that election activities on Sunday were offensive to God.
New York Magazine political columnist Ed Kilgore wrote about Hyde-Smith’s comments to the U.S. Senate Rules and Administration Committee’s hearing on the For the People Act, the measure that would expand voting rights in the country.
Pointing out that God is referenced in everything from the words on the dollar bill to the oaths that are taken by witnesses, Hyde-Smith said that Mississippi would never allow voting or any other election activities because such activities go against God’s demand that the Sabbath be kept holy.
Journalist Aaron Rupar posted a video of Hyde=Smith’s remarks on Twitter.
Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith defends preventing people from voting on Sunday, because God pic.twitter.com/69tYzgi4jU
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 24, 2021
In his piece published on the Intelligencer website, Kilgore suggested Smith had “chutzpah” lecturing Jewish Sen. Chuck Schumer and others about keeping the Sabbath holy, one of the Ten Commandments in the original Holy Scriptures.
Kilgore posted on Twitter that Hyde-Smith’s remarks were the “dumbest thing” he has ever heard a U.S. Senator say.
This may be the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard a U.S. Senator say, which is saying a lot. https://t.co/OD5tfA9qn1
— Ed Kilgore (@ed_kilgore) March 24, 2021
Kilgore suggested that Hyde-Smith’s comments provided a bit of comedy in a hearing that had been characterized at times as being tense.
Kilgore also suggested that Hyde-Smith was being disingenuous and wondered whether Hyde-Smith advocate returning to a time when “blue laws” in the South prevented people from shopping and doing business on Sundays.