President Trump on Thursday acknowledged Democrat Scott Colom's unexpected Senate victory in Mississippi, offering measured praise for the senator-elect's campaign strategy while reiterating his belief that Republican losses stem from his own absence from the ballot.
During an interview with sports commentator Stephen A. Smith at the White House, Trump said, "I don't know the gentleman, but I give him credit." He highlighted a viral moment from a rally in Corinth, Mississippi, where Colom approached voters waiting in line and engaged them on key issues. "I had a rally there, and we had lines that went 10 miles long, and he campaigned on that line — telling everybody in the line what a good job he did. I give him a lot of credit for that," Trump added.
Colom's campaign released a video of that encounter, which quickly spread across social media. In it, voters cited high prices as a primary concern, though some voiced opposition to Trump's trade policies and military actions in Iran. As of Thursday night, the clip had amassed roughly 239,000 views on Facebook and 555,000 on Instagram.
The victory was a historic upset in a state Trump carried by 23 points in 2024. After more than a week of counting late-arriving and affidavit ballots, Decision Desk HQ projected Colom had defeated incumbent Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith by about half a percentage point. Pre-election forecasts had given Colom only a 9 percent chance of winning.
Despite the long odds, there were signs of a competitive race. Trump campaigned heavily for Hyde-Smith in Mississippi and other traditionally Republican areas, but he maintained in Thursday's interview that Republican losses were due to his not being on the ballot — even though he repeatedly urged voters to treat the election as if he were.
Colom's win also carries historical weight. He becomes the first Black senator elected by popular vote in Mississippi and only the third in the state's history, following two Reconstruction-era appointees. Black residents make up more than a third of Mississippi's population.
The race carried personal overtones: Hyde-Smith had blocked Colom's federal judicial nomination in 2023, when President Biden put him forward. Now Colom has denied her a second full term.
Political analysts are already examining how Colom's outreach to conservative voters, combined with economic anxieties, reshaped the state's political landscape. The result has injected fresh uncertainty into the GOP's calculus ahead of the next election cycle.
