Conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt suggested on Tuesday that Mississippi Senate candidate Cindy Hyde-Smith is a “mainstream” Republican candidate regardless of the racial insensitivity she has shown to black Americans.

While Mississippi voters were casting their ballots on Tuesday, MSNBC host Craig Melvin asked Hewitt if he was bothered by reports that Hyde-Smith joked about public hangings, wore Confederate gear and attended a segregated academy to avoid racial integration.

“She’s a perfectly acceptable Republican,” Hewitt insisted. “I’m not embarrassed by her. No one is. Everyone is down there campaigning for her because she is a very reliable Republican mainstream candidate.”

In the end, Hewitt predicted that Hyde-Smith would easily defeat Democratic candidate Mike Espy.

“I do think she’s going to pummel him pretty handily,” he said.