In 2018, Johnson and his wife, Ann, each donated $2,700 to the campaign of Cindy Hyde-Smith who is a Republican U.S. Senator from Mississippi in a runoff election against Mike Espy, an African-American democratic candidate. On the campaign trail, Hyde-Smith was criticized when a video surfaced showing her tell a local rancher, “If he invited me to a public hanging, I’d be on the front row.” The basis for such wide criticism came as the state has dealt with a history of African Americans being lynched. Nine days after such controversial video surfaced, Charles Johnson and his wife Ann Johnson each donated $5,400 to the Hyde-Smith campaign which sparked further criticism of Mr. and Mrs. Johnson.