US President Donald Trump has praised Democrat Scott Colom for campaigning among MAGA supporters at a Mississippi rally, days after Colom won a closely contested Senate election.
According to the Associated Press, Trump made the remarks on Thursday during an appearance on Stephen A. Smith’s Straight Shooter podcast.
Colom, a 43-year-old prosecutor, defeated Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith in an unexpected victory that was confirmed on Wednesday.
During the campaign, Colom approached Trump supporters waiting outside a rally in Corinth, introducing himself and discussing their concerns.
“I give him a lot of credit for that,” Trump said, acknowledging his opponent’s unusual campaign strategy.
The praise marked a sharp change from Trump’s earlier criticism of Colom, whom he had labelled a “Marxist radical” and a “shameless phony who pretends to be a moderate.”
Colom focused his campaign on economic concerns, including rising petrol prices linked to the Iran war and tariffs affecting Mississippi farmers.
Rather than attacking Trump supporters personally, he criticised the president’s policies while promising to represent voters across the state.
Colom’s victory is historically significant, making him Mississippi’s first Black US senator since the Reconstruction era following the American Civil War.
