by Adam Ganucheau, Mississippi Today
August 15, 2025

A note from Adam Ganucheau: A couple hours after this column published, Sen. Roger Wicker’s office reached out and demanded a correction, saying the senator’s “get a life” comment was directed to himself and not to constituents. That’s certainly not how I nor hundreds of Mississippians who commented on and shared the viral video heard it. Mississippi Today has updated portions of this column to reflect concerns raised by Wicker’s office. Here’s a link to the video/audio of his response to the question about constituent concerns. Mississippians can decide for themselves what Wicker meant.

When 34-year-old Thad Cochran arrived in Washington after his first election in 1972, the Republican felt it important to document what he’d heard and learned from Mississippians on the campaign trail and share it with his young staff.

He sat down at a typewriter and wrote a memo titled “General Responsiveness” and dated March 14, 1973:

During the campaign I detected a very strong animosity among the people toward government and those associated with government bureaus and agencies. This included elected officials and those associated with them. Part of the cause of this attitude was due to a lack of feeling or understanding by government people for the needs and opinions of the average citizen. We are all in a job to represent all our constituents. We are not the bureaucracy. A constituent who asks us for help should be assured to be in need of help with our office as his last resort. A constituent who writes a letter should be made to feel by our response that he is glad he wrote us. A constituent who claims to have been wronged by the government should be assumed to be correct. Everyone should guard against developing the attitude that we are better than, smarter than or more important than any constituent. We do not hold a position of authority over any constituent. We are truly servants of the people who selected us for this job.

Every year from 1973 through 2018, over his three U.S. House terms and six U.S. Senate terms, Cochran shared that memo with every staffer who worked in his offices. The guidance, he said all those years, was a necessary reminder to show respect to the people who offer feedback or need help. He never wanted his staff or himself to forget who sent them to Washington.

The memo, like so many other things, serves as a stark reminder that Cochran was among the last in a bygone era of American politics. The perspective he wrote and shared is a far cry from what Mississippians have been getting recently from our current U.S. senators.

“Surely everybody else has better things to do with their time,” senior U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker said to a room full of constituents earlier this month when asked about calls and emails his office has been getting. After half-heartedly explaining that he does see a list of names of people who reach out to his office, he quipped: “Get a life.”

Wicker’s office said Friday that the senator directed “Get a life” to himself, not to constituents.

Wicker, who typically chooses his words a little more carefully, perhaps has been trying to match his junior colleague’s energy.

“Why is everyone’s head exploding?” U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith said in April to Mississippi constituents who had expressed concerns over slashing federal Medicaid spending. “I can’t understand why everyone’s head is exploding.”

There are many kind staffers working for Republicans Wicker and Hyde-Smith who are helpful to Mississippi constituents in any number of ways privately or behind the scenes. These people care deeply about serving their home state and they do it well, and they cannot help how their bosses address the public. But, boy, their phones must be blowing up more than ever since the senators made these comments.

Consider, for a moment, what it means that we have devolved from having a leader who believed that “a constituent who claims to have been wronged by the government should be assumed to be correct” to one who thinks telling constituents to “get a life” is appropriate. Think about the fact that we replaced a leader who regularly reminded his staff that “we are truly servants of the people who selected us for this job” with one whose gut response to legitimate concerns from constituents is that their “heads are exploding.”

Just … wow. To call it alarming doesn’t fully encapsulate the gravity of their behavior. It’s enough to discourage even the most optimistic among us about the present and future of our state and our nation.

It’s enough to inspire you to ponder, in this intense political climate when unprecedented and harrowing federal government decisions are being made and going largely unchecked every day, whether our current U.S. senators even remember why they’re in Washington, why we sent them there.

It is necessary, in the shortest possible order, to ask and answer for ourselves what we should expect of our elected officials and whether we should feel OK about being dismissed or ignored outright like this.

You don’t have to be a Democrat to think that this behavior is out of line. Plenty of Republicans — some publicly and many privately — are increasingly disturbed by what’s happening in Washington. Regardless of your own personal political beliefs, be honest with yourself about whether you can read these comments from our senators and still feel that your best interests are being represented.

Sadly, we can no longer ask Cochran to help us answer these questions, but it sure seems clear where he’d stand. What about you?

READ MORE: Mississippi, where ‘We Dissent’ means nothing to elected officials

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The post 'Get a life,' Sen. Roger Wicker says of constituents appeared first on mississippitoday.org

Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.

Political Bias Rating: Center-Left

The content critiques Republican senators for their dismissive attitude toward constituents, contrasting them with a more respectful past leader. It highlights concerns about current political behavior and governance, emphasizing accountability and responsiveness to the public. While it acknowledges that some Republicans privately share these concerns, the tone and framing suggest a leaning that favors more progressive or reform-minded perspectives, typical of center-left commentary.

by Rick Cleveland, Mississippi Today
August 14, 2025

Change occurs so quickly in the 250th year of our nation’s existence sometimes we feel the need to call timeout, survey the rapidly shifting landscape and wonder: What next? What in Hades happens next?

We have a former Fox Network weekend host in charge of our military. We have a former professional wrestling promoter heading up the Department of Education (which she wants to scrap entirely). We have an anti-vaccine advocate leading the Department of Health and Human Services. Hard to tell these days who are our allies and who are our enemies. Few of our traditional allies trust us anymore. Our president creates, then delays, then reduces and then increases tariffs so often we can’t keep up. 

Indeed, what the heck comes next? 

Well, stop the presses. Now we know what’s next: Cage fighting on the White House grounds, UFC style. Trump has indicated he wants it to happen. His close friend Dana White, CEO of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), says unequivocally this is going to happen. Paramount, which has been so much in the news lately, will televise it. Millions of dollars will be made. Eyes will be blackened! Brains will be concussed!! Blood will flow!!! Ratings will soar!!!! MAGA!!!!!

Ancient Rome had the Colosseum and gladiators fighting to the death for the entertainment of the emperor. Washington will have cage fighting, no holds barred, at the White House, heretofore a National Historic Landmark so designated for its significance to American history, architecture, arts and culture. At least there will be no lions in the White House cage. Or will there be? Perhaps alligators.

The target date is July 4, 2026. As Trump put it in a speech in Iowa: “We’re going to have a UFC fight, think of this, on the grounds of the White House. We have a lot of land there. … We’re going to have a UFC fight, championship fight, full fight.”

Yes, he really did say we have a lot of land there, leaving out the obvious. It doesn’t take much land for a caged-in, 746-square foot UFC octagon. Besides, there’s not enough room for a golf course, which Trump might prefer.

U.S. presidents have dabbled in sports before, though not quite the way Trump, who owns 17 golf courses worldwide, has immersed himself in golf. Trump in his second term reportedly has played golf on a quarter of the days he has been president, costing taxpayers roughly $70 million in travel and secret service expenses.

Previous presidents have not been quite so active, although Nixon installed a bowling alley in the White House basement. Eisenhower added a putting green on the White House lawn. Clinton added a jogging track to the White House grounds. Obama loved to play pick-up basketball. Most all recent presidents have been huge sports fans. But, at least to my knowledge, Trump is the first UFC aficionado in the White House.

Which brings to my mind this question: Which president would have been best at UFC? My money definitely would be on sturdy Teddy Roosevelt, who boxed at Harvard and sparred at both boxing and judo while president. He was a fitness freak. He also found time as president to save college football, although I’m not at all sure President Teddy would fancy what college football has become.

There are other president-athletes to consider. Abe Lincoln was a champion amateur wrestler and would have had a decided advantage in reach over most presidents. Gerald Ford was a Michigan football star who played on two national championship teams and was the Wolverines’ MVP as a senior. Ford was in the trenches, a center on offense and a linebacker on defense. This was back before facemasks. Clearly, he was a tough guy.

William Howard Taft, our 27th president, was a varsity heavyweight wrestler at Yale. In retrospect, it seems a shame sumo wrestling wasn’t popular in the early 20th century. Taft, 5 feet, 11 inches tall and weighing just over 350 pounds, would have been a natural.

On the local front, you don’t have to read Mississippi Today daily to know that Mississippi’s current political leaders often follow President Trump’s lead. Indeed, there seems a highly competitive contest to see which Mississippi politico can get the tightest grip on Trump’s coattails. They all want to follow Trump’s blueprint and make Mississippi great again.

With that in mind, can UFC fighting at the Governor’s Mansion, right there on Capitol Street, be far behind?

Think of the possibilities. For starters, how about Shad White vs. Andy Gipson? Who you got?

Clarification: This column was updated to reflect that the United States of America is in its 250th year of existence.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The post UFC cage fighting at the White House: Will Mississippi follow the lead? appeared first on mississippitoday.org

Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.

Political Bias Rating: Center-Left

The article adopts a critical tone toward former President Trump and his administration, highlighting controversial appointments and policies with a degree of skepticism and irony. It uses humor and historical comparisons to question the appropriateness of hosting UFC cage fighting at the White House, suggesting a disapproval of the spectacle and the current political climate. While not overtly partisan, the piece leans toward a center-left perspective by scrutinizing conservative figures and policies more than offering balanced praise.

by Michael Goldberg, Mississippi Today
August 12, 2025

It took Tommy Duff precisely 20 seconds to invoke the outsider businessman who rose to power with no experience holding elected office. Duff would have mentioned President Donald Trump even sooner had he not paused a few seconds to wait for applause to hush. 

Trump, Duff exclaimed before a room full of Republican insiders at a hotel in Rankin County on Monday night, has surpassed his 200th day in office. He said the changes Trump has brought about are self-evident, and the impact of the administration’s agenda is as direct as the president at its helm. He said Trump is someone who says “this is what we’re doing, and then does it.”

“And I think the thing that appeals to me the most about President Trump and watching his policies is the fact that he’s an outsider,” Duff added. “He looks at things in a different perspective. He thinks that if we’ve operated this way for so long, why don’t we change? Because maybe what we’ve been doing has not been working.” 

In what Duff’s advisers characterized as the first political speech of his life, the billionaire tire baron on Monday outlined some of the challenges he believes Mississippi must tackle, and the “vision” he has for doing so. That vision was largely short on policy specifics.

In a sit-down interview with Mississippi Today in June, at an event with business leaders in July, and at a “Lincoln-Reagan-Trump” dinner on Monday, Duff has hinted at the broad outlines of what could become a gubernatorial campaign agenda. But Duff has largely done so without offering specific policy proposals, citing the nearly 27 months remaining until Election Day in 2027. 

Duff, 68, Mississippi’s richest man, again stopped short of formally announcing a run for governor in 2027, but he has said publicly he is considering entering the race. 

His speech on Monday was not a divergence from his recent public appearances, as his remarks did not shed light on where he stands on a wide range of ongoing public policy debates in Mississippi, including the intra-party Republican fights on school choice and Medicaid expansion.

But he expanded on his prior calls for Mississippi to get serious about fixing its brain drain problem. Mississippi has seen a large share of its college graduates flee to other states in search of, among other priorities, lucrative jobs. 

Keeping more Mississippi-educated college students and offering the job opportunities that may incentivize them to stay, along with improving the state’s labor force participation rate, will set the stage for what Duff sees as the state’s central challenge: overtaking other Southeastern states in the race for economic investment. That should involve increasing economic activity in Mississippi in areas of the state that are losing population, such as the Delta, Duff said. 

“We’re doing great in education. I am so proud of our educational advances and what we’re doing, and I give great tribute to the leaders of Mississippi for that,” Duff said. “We are doing great as a state as far as our economic activity, but there are pockets of our state that are just desperate for assistance, desperate. How can we continue to grow our state?” 

Education and economic development were the dominant themes in a speech that ran just under 30 minutes. 

Duff, who with his brother is reportedly worth a combined $7 billion, said he supported the Legislature’s “reduction” of the state income tax. In 2025, Mississippi’s Republican majority passed legislation that will gradually eliminate the tax over several years. 

But Duff also used the occasion to draw historical parallels that could prove helpful later. By the second minute of his remarks, he had mentioned not only Trump, but Kirk Fordice, who entered Mississippi’s 1992 gubernatorial race as a businessman and political outsider. Fordice rode that political image to the governor’s mansion, becoming the first Republican governor in Mississippi since Reconstruction.

For Fordice and other Republicans, Rankin County has been a key GOP stronghold. 

Duff spoke in Flowood at the Sheraton’s The Refuge, the same hotel where incumbent Republican Gov. Tate Reeves celebrated his reelection in 2023. 

The event, which organizers said was sold out, charged $100 for individual tickets. Tables cost $1,000, with the priciest tier landing at $10,000 for access to a VIP sponsor reception and two VIP tables. State legislators mingled with local party officials and lobbyists inside a cavernous ballroom. Outside, a bar overlooked the hotel golf course. 

Duff’s political action committee promoted fundraising for the event, with proceeds going to the Rankin County Republican Executive Committee. 

Duff keynoted a speaking program that included at least one of his potential rivals for the governor’s mansion: Agriculture Commissioner Andy Gipson.

Gipson, 48, a former state lawmaker, lawyer, and Baptist minister, has already thrown his cowboy hat in the ring for the governor’s race. Gipson, who has served in state government for 17 years, delivered the invocation on Monday, informing the crowd that a higher power had made clear Mississippi’s biggest problem had nothing to do with public policy. 

“You saw our greatest problem was not education. Our greatest problem was not financing. Our greatest problem was not health care. Our problem was sin,” Gipson said.  

The speakers also included Secretary of State Michael Watson, seen as a likely candidate for lieutenant governor in 2027. Watson introduced Duff, highlighting his business success as an exemplar of both the American Dream and a Republican Party that venerates individualism. 

“He could clock out, but he hasn’t because he cares. And I think that’s an important piece of being an elected official, not that he is one, but just in case,” Watson said. “We believe it’s good to celebrate freedom, rugged individualism, hard work, entrepreneurship and success. We celebrate the positive things happening in Mississippi and America right now, and we celebrate that the American Dream is alive and well.” 

When Duff took the stage, he cast the story behind his business empire in a less individualistic light, pointing out that he had help along the way. 

“I went about a year without a paycheck. But luckily, I lived at home, and mom and dad took care of it. But we worked and we had fun, and as we grew, I learned a lot of things. One is that I’m not that important. The culture and the people are what’s important.” 

With respect to the current culture war, Duff’s remarks were short on red meat, though Duff did mention an episode from years ago when he and his brother Jim were asked by a Forbes Magazine reporter whether they had a DEI policy (the answer was no). 

Duff also mentioned his eight-year stint on the state Institutions of Higher Learning Board, claiming to have helped improve the financial health of the state’s higher education system. Duff has also done that through private donations – he and his brother have donated about $50 million to Mississippi universities.

Duff’s remarks also drew from a conversation he reported having with JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon. The men each spoke at a July 28 summit hosted by Mississippi Today and Deep South Today. 

Duff said Dimon asked him why only just over half of Mississippi adults eligible to work are working, as shown by a labor-force participation rate that lags most other states. Duff, who through his companies employs thousands of Mississippi residents, said the answer is a lack of well-paying jobs.

That sentiment seemed to be shared by Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who, in another private conversation with Duff, reportedly nudged him to bring more of his company’s jobs to the state. 

“She said, let’s talk about how you’re going to have more (employees). Let’s talk about what other businesses you can put in our state. And I stopped, and I said, this lady really learned from Donald Trump,” Duff said. “She really understands things, because she approaches it in a different manner.”

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The post Tommy Duff tries to stake out 'outsider' identity in first political speech appeared first on mississippitoday.org

Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.

Political Bias Rating: Center-Right

The content presents a generally favorable view of Republican figures and policies, particularly highlighting Tommy Duff’s admiration for Donald Trump and other GOP leaders. It emphasizes pro-business themes, economic development, and conservative values such as individualism and tax reduction, while avoiding strong partisan rhetoric or controversial cultural issues. The tone is supportive of Republican political strategies and candidates, reflecting a center-right perspective without veering into extreme partisanship.