A Mississippi state senator on Sunday defended embattled Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith's (R-Miss.) recent "public hanging" remarks by arguing that public hangings "would deter a lot of crimes."

State Sen. Charles Younger (R), at a rally in support of Hyde-Smith, said he believes Democrats criticizing the senator over her comments would support the death penalty for Charleston shooter Dylann Roof, local outlet Mississippi Today reported.

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"[Hyde-Smith] said something out of jest that wasn’t the most politically correct thing to say but, you know, I bet you nine out of 10 Democrats would vote to execute the young man that killed the nine black people in the church in South Carolina — the African Americans that were killed in South Carolina," Younger told the outlet. "I bet you nine out of 10 Democrats would vote to have him executed any kind of way."

Roof last year was sentenced to death for murdering nine African-Americans in a historic black church in Charleston, S.C., in 2015.

When the Republican state senator was pressed over his comments on Roof, he replied with a defense of public hangings.

“Public hanging was an execution style," Younger said. "It wasn’t lynching — it was a public hanging where it had to pass through the courts and it wasn’t a color or a race issue. It was just a means of punishment."

"And, frankly, if it was back again I think it would deter a lot of crimes," he added.

For the past two weeks, Hyde-Smith has faced accusations of racism after a Nov. 2 video surfaced in which she said she would be "on the front row" if invited to a "public hanging" by a supporter.

The viral comments hit a nerve among civil rights activists as Hyde-Smith runs a heated campaign against Democrat Mike Espy, who would become the the first black U.S. senator from Mississippi since 1881 if elected.

Espy and Hyde-Smith are facing off in a runoff election on Tuesday after neither candidate won more than 50 percent of the vote in the Nov. 6 special election.

Mississippi historically had the highest number of lynchings of African-Americans of any state, local outlet the Jackson Free Press reported.

The lynchings were often carried out as part of a coordinated campaign of racial terror in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Two hundred and fifty-seven people were hanged between 1804 and 1940, 78 percent of which were black men, Mississippi Today reported.

Younger's office and Hyde-Smith's campaign did not immediately respond to The Hill's requests for comment.