Teacher:In this task, you are given a text of many news articles seperated by special token "|||||". Your task is to summarize them.
Teacher: Now, understand the problem? Solve this instance: Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith is campaigning in a runoff against Democrat Mike Espy on Nov. 27. | AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis Elections Walmart seeks refund from Hyde-Smith after 'public hanging' comment Several other companies have asked the Republican senator for their campaign contributions back. 
  
 Walmart wants its money back from Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith. 
  
 The retail behemoth asked Hyde-Smith to return its campaign contribution after the Mississippi Republican praised a supporter by saying, "If he invited me to a public hanging, I'd be on the front row." Hyde-Smith said the statement was made in jest and denied any racial connotation. 
  
 Story Continued Below 
  
 Walmart responded to a tweet from actress Debra Messing pointing out that the company had donated to Hyde-Smith. "Completely understand your concern," Walmart tweeted from its official company account. "Sen. Hyde Smith's recent comments clearly do not reflect the values of our company and associates. As a result, we are withdrawing our support and requesting a refund of all campaign donations." The company gave $2,000 to the senator. 
  
 Walmart is the latest of several major companies to request refunds from Hyde-Smith's campaign following the controversy over her remarks. She has not apologized for the "public hanging" comment, which she called an "exaggerated expression of regard." 
  
 Hyde-Smith is campaigning in a runoff against Democrat Mike Espy on Nov. 27. A spokesman for her campaign declined to comment. 
  
 Morning Score newsletter Your guide to the permanent campaign — weekday mornings, in your inbox. Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time. 
  
 Railroad giant Union Pacific and Boston Scientific, a medical device manufacturer, also asked for their campaign donations to be returned. Both companies sent out dozens of replies on Twitter to users who were criticizing them for the donations. 
  
 "Union Pacific in no way, shape or form condones or supports divisive or perceived to be divisive statements," the company tweeted. "Our contribution was mailed prior to Hyde-Smith's statement being made public. Union Pacific has requested a refund of our contribution." 
  
 "We were not aware of Senator Hyde-Smith’s remarks when this contribution was made on November 8, and we have requested a refund," Boston Scientific tweeted. "We reject the Senator’s statements, which are not aligned with our company’s core values." 
  
  ||||| Tweet with a location 
  
 You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more ||||| We've detected that JavaScript is disabled in your browser. Would you like to proceed to legacy Twitter? 
  
 Yes ||||| Who really won the midterms? Why both parties can claim victories 3:59 PM ET Fri, 9 Nov 2018 | 04:41 
  
 "Sen. Hyde-Smith's recent comments clearly do not reflect the values of our company and associates. As a result, we are withdrawing our support and requesting a refund of all campaign donations," Walmart said in the tweet. 
  
 Later Tuesday, when asked by CNBC about its own donation to Hyde-Smith, a spokesman for telecommunications behemoth AT&T said, "We are no longer supporting Senator Hyde-Smith and have requested a refund of our campaign contributions." 
  
 AT&T had contributed $2,000 to Hyde-Smith prior to November. 
  
 The scientific research company Leidos then told CNBC on Tuesday, "We have already requested a refund." Leidos had contributed $5,000 to Hyde-Smith. 
  
 "Remarks like those made by Senator Hyde-Smith are offensive and an affront to everything we stand for as a company. The money was sent before the remarks were public. If Leidos had been aware, we would not have made the contribution and are pursuing a refund of our contribution," the company said. 
  
 Hyde-Smith's campaign did not respond to a request for comment. 
  
 Also Tuesday, a Facebook post Hyde-Smith made in 2014 resurfaced, showing her smilingly posing wearing a Confederate cap and holding a rifle. Hyde-Smith, who took the photo while visiting the home of Confederate States of America president Jefferson Davis, wrote, "Mississippi history at its best!" in a caption accompanying the image. 
  
 In addition to AT&T, Leidos and Walmart, two other companies, Union Pacific and Boston Scientific, had already asked for their money back Monday. 
  
 All five companies acted after corporate contributions to the GOP incumbent were highlighted by the news site Popular Information, whose article about the donations was tweeted by Messing. 
  
 Federal election filings revealed that Walmart had contributed $2,000 to the campaign of Hyde-Smith. 
  
 That contribution reportedly was made Nov. 18 — around a week after the first reports that Hyde-Smith had talked about attending a hanging. 
  
 In June, Walmart had given Hyde-Smith's campaign an initial $1,000 donation. 
  
 Filings show that Blackstone's Schwarzman made his own $2,700 contribution to the senator on Nov. 14, days after exposure of her "hanging" comment. However, it is not clear if in fact that was the date the contribution was actually made, or merely reported. 
  
 On Nov. 2, Hyde-Smith, while attending a campaign stop in Tupelo, referred to a local rancher standing next to her, and said that if he "invited me to a public hanging I'd be on the front row." 
  
 That comment sparked a firestorm of criticism after it became widely known. 
  
 Mississippi has a history of lynching African-Americans and Hyde-Smith's opponent, Espy, is black. 
  
 Espy's spokesman, Danny Blanton, said, "Cindy Hyde-Smith's comments have embarrassed Mississippi, and shown why she can't be trusted to work with the businesses Mississippi needs to grow good paying jobs." 
  
 "We're confident that voters will follow Walmart's lead and dump Cindy Hyde-Smith before she has the power to do real damage to our economy," Blanton said. |||||
Student:
A week before a runoff election that will determine whether she remains a senator, Mississippi's Cindy Hyde-Smith continues to fend off bad publicity over a "public hanging" joke. The latest development is that Walmart has asked the Republican incumbent to return its campaign donations, reports CNBC. "Sen. Hyde-Smith's recent comments clearly do not reflect the values of our company and associates," said Walmart in replying to a critical tweet from actress Debra Messing. "As a result, we are withdrawing our support and requesting a refund of all campaign donations." The company had given Hyde-Smith, who faces Democrat Mike Espy in a Nov. 27 runoff, two donations for a total of $2,000. All of this stems from remarks Hyde-Smith made on the campaign trail, when referring to a local rancher and supporter of hers. If he "invited me to a public hanging, I'd be on the front row," she said. Hyde-Smith has refused to apologize, saying critics are distorting what were good-natured comments, but critics say Mississippi in particular is no place to be making such jokes. Union Pacific and medical device manufacturer Boston Scientific have similarly requested their campaign donations back, reports Politico. (Elsewhere, Democratic candidates have routed Republicans in Orange County, California, a once-red House region.)