McDaniel Now Says He Only Attended One Neo-Confederate Event

Sen. Chris McDaniel, R-Ellisville, tells colleagues about his opposition to an amendment for Medicaid expansion Friday, June 28, 2013 as the Republican-controlled Senate debates at the Capitol in Jackson, Miss. The a... Sen. Chris McDaniel, R-Ellisville, tells colleagues about his opposition to an amendment for Medicaid expansion Friday, June 28, 2013 as the Republican-controlled Senate debates at the Capitol in Jackson, Miss. The amendment was defeated. The Senate voted overwhelmingly to renew and fund Medicaid beyond this coming weekend, when the program has been set to expire. Both Medicaid bills are on their way to Gov. Phil Bryant who is expected to sign them into law.(AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis) MORE LESS
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Mississippi State Sen. Chris McDaniel’s (R) Senate campaign is now disputing that McDaniel was at a neo-Confederate conference that they said he had attended.

In October, Mother Jones reported that McDaniel had attended neo-Confederate and pro-secessionist conferences. Mother Jones reporter Timothy Murphy reported that when he reached McDaniel’s campaign he was told “Senator McDaniel has driven across Mississippi to speak to many groups over the past decade” but did not deny that the state senator attended the August event. Murphy also confirmed McDaniel’s attendance through a spokesman for the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

But earlier in the week McDaniel told Mississippi’s Clarion-Ledger that he actually was not at the event because he was at a conference for the American Legislative Exchange Council in Chicago at the time. A spokesman also told the Clarion-Ledger that McDaniel was not at the Sons of Confederate Veterans event because he missed a flight out of Chicago.

Even if McDaniel did miss the Sons of Confederate Veterans Conference he did deliver a speech at a June 22 event the group also hosted and Mother Jones originally reported. A spokesman for the Sons of Confederate Veterans confirmed McDaniel was at that event.

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