WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday heaped praise on Mississippi's Sen.-elect Scott Colom for courting some of his hardcore MAGA supporters in the final days of the midterm election campaign, a rare example of the Republican president showing admiration for a Democrat.
When the president traveled to Corinth, Mississippi, last month to campaign for incumbent Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, Trump denigrated Colom as a “Marxist radical," a “fake” and a “shameless phony who pretends to be a moderate."
But on Thursday, during an appearance on Stephen A. Smith's “Straight Shooter” podcast, Trump acknowledged that Colom demonstrated chutzpah by showing up to the Trump rally to mingle with some of the Republican president's staunchest “Make America Great Again” supporters.
“I heard it the other day, where I had a rally there, and we had lines that went 10 miles long, and he campaigned on that line, telling everybody on the line what a good job he did,” Trump said of Colom, a 43-year-old local prosecutor who capitalized on the electorate's discontent with the economy in his successful underdog campaign. “I give him a lot of credit for that.”
Colom had walked along the lineup of Trump supporters waiting to get into the Corinth rally, introducing himself and asking about their concerns.
The move gained widespread media attention, stealing the spotlight from Trump's barnstorming in Mississippi, a state Republicans had expected to easily win.
It also tracked with Colom's strategy throughout the campaign of criticizing Trump’s policies — especially the Iran war that drove up gas prices and tariffs that caused headaches for Mississippi farmers — without taking personal jabs at the president or people who voted for him. Colom had sought to portray Hyde-Smith as a nonentity in Washington, while vowing that he would look out for the interests of people in his state.
The Associated Press called the tight race in Colom’s favor on Wednesday after local officials spent several days processing absentee and provisional ballots, which are called affidavit ballots in Mississippi.
With the win, Colom will become the state's first Black U.S. senator since post-Civil War Reconstruction.
Mississippi Democratic Senate candidate Scott Colom gestures at an election event in Jackson, Miss., Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)
INDIAN WELLS, Calif. (AP) — Jessica Pegula saved a match point while winning the final three games to beat Linda Noskova 7-6 (2), 4-6, 7-5 in her round-robin group and advance to the semifinals of the WTA Finals on Thursday night.
Noskova had already advanced to the semifinals at the $10 million event in the Southern California desert, which was moved from Saudi Arabia because of the Iran war in the Middle East. She and Pegula went 2-1 in Group 1 play.
Pegula's victory knocked out Coco Gauff, her former doubles partner. Earlier, Gauff rallied to win the final six games and beat Marta Kostyuk 6-4, 7-5 in what turned out to be her final match of the year. Pegula lost to Gauff in three sets in their opening match at the season-ending championships.
Noskova, the Wimbledon champion, led 5-4 and held a match point on Pegula's serve in the third. But Pegula's serve bailed her out. She fired a career-high 16 aces, including one that tied the set, 5-all.
“I feel like no one's really given me credit for that stat,” Pegula said. “I've turned it around this year.”
She broke Noskova in the next game and closed out the match when a net cord fell back on Noskova's side on Pegula's first match point.
Pegula converted just one of seven break points in the 50-minute second set.
Gauff overcame serving issues and visits from a trainer to massage her back during the match. It initially stiffened up in her first match and bothers her on serves and forehands. She received a painkiller.
"I think it's kicking in now,” she said, laughing afterward, “so I feel good.”
Kostyuk raced to a 4-0 lead in in the second set, fighting off four break points to hold in the second game. Twice, Gauff double-faulted away games. She requested a trainer early in the set to work on her as she lay on her side while Kostyuk walked over to sit on the advertising board and chat with her team.
“I was just preparing to play a third (set) at that point,” Gauff said.
Kostyuk led 5-1 before Gauff's comeback began. She fought off three break points and hit a crosscourt forehand winner to trail 5-2.
Kostyuk's wrist began hurting in the first set and a trained tended to it.
“I couldn't really serve anymore,” she said. “I couldn't even hit the ball properly anymore, so I started to miss a lot. I was like, ‘I have to finish this match because it’s just not fair, like for everyone, if I would just stop here right now.'"
Gauff broke twice to tie the set at 5-5. Gauff held for a 6-5 lead and won the match on Kostyuk's netted forehand.
“One game turned into another and I think she got a little bit frustrated too, so that kind of helped me," Gauff said. "Once it was 5-all, I felt momentum was on my side and I just needed to keep my foot on the gas.”
Gauff led 5-2 in the first set before Kostyuk broke to close to 5-4. Gauff broke back in the next game with a gutsy crosscourt backhand volley winner to take the set.
Kostyuk got into the Finals as the first alternate after top-ranked Elena Rybakina withdrew because of a viral illness. The 24-year-old Ukrainian went 0-3 in Group 1 play.
See AP’s full tennis coverage here
FILE - Marta Kostyuk, of Ukraine, returns the ball to Linda Noskova, of the Czech Republic, during the fourth round of the U.S. Open tennis championships Sunday, Sept. 6, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig,File)
FILE - Coco Gauff, of the United States, returns the ball to Elena Rybakina, of Kazakhstan, during the women's singles semifinals of the U.S. Open tennis championships, on Sept. 10, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II, File)
