🕷️ Crawler Inspector

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Raw Queries and Responses

1. Shard Calculation

Query:

Response:

Calculated Shard: 162 (from laksa095)

2. Crawled Status Check

Query:

curl -X POST \
  'http://laksa162.int.ahrefs:8124/' \
  -H 'Content-Type: text/plain' \
  -H 'X-ClickHouse-Database: crawler3' \
  -H 'Authorization: Basic YXBpOg==' \
  -d 'SELECT getAhrefsURLFromUnparsed(src_unparsed) AS found_url, ifNull(toUnixTimestamp(download_stamp), 0) AS crawl_time, ifNull(toUnixTimestamp(props_url_first_seen), 0) AS first_indexed_time, download_http_code AS http_code, src_unparsed AS src_unparsed, src_root_hash AS src_root_hash, history_drop_reason AS history_drop_reason, meta_title AS meta_title, meta_descriptions AS meta_descriptions, attrs_boilerpipe_text AS attrs_boilerpipe_text, attrs_markdown AS attrs_markdown, attrs_readable_markdown AS attrs_readable_markdown, meta_canonical AS meta_canonical FROM crawler3.page_info_local FINAL PREWHERE (src_root_hash, src_unparsed) IN ((getAhrefsRootHashFromUnparsed(getAhrefsUnparsedNoserviceFromURL(\'https://mississippitoday.org/2026/03/01/donald-trump-kirk-fordice-state-of-state/\')), getAhrefsUnparsedNoserviceFromURL(\'https://mississippitoday.org/2026/03/01/donald-trump-kirk-fordice-state-of-state/\'))) FORMAT JSONEachRow'

Response:

{"found_url":"https:\/\/mississippitoday.org\/2026\/03\/01\/donald-trump-kirk-fordice-state-of-state\/","crawl_time":1776313135,"first_indexed_time":1772377248,"http_code":200,"src_unparsed":"org,mississippitoday!\/2026\/03\/01\/donald-trump-kirk-fordice-state-of-state\/ s443","src_root_hash":"17145635873327029762","history_drop_reason":null,"meta_title":"Gov. Fordice, from different era, was judged much more harshly than President Trump","meta_descriptions":["Reactions to Gov. Kirk Fordice's last State of State and most recent Donald Trump State of Union highlight how people now respond differently to scandal."],"attrs_boilerpipe_text":"Vice President JD Vance, left, and House Speaker Mike Johnson applaud President Donald Trump during his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress in the House chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026.\nCredit:\nAP Photo\/Alex Brandon\nAudio recording is automated for accessibility. Humans wrote and edited the story.\nLate in his second term as governor of Mississippi,\nKirk Fordice\ndelivered a State of the State speech where he was not interrupted a single time by applause.\nThe House chamber in the state Capitol was as quiet as a church mouse on a Sunday morning.\nBy the time Fordice delivered the State of the State address sans applause, a series of events had occurred making it clear he was cheating on First Lady Pat Fordice. Those events culminated with a near-fatal car wreck the governor suffered in November 1996 while returning to Jackson after sneaking away to visit another woman in Memphis.\nKirk Fordice, governor of Mississippi 1992-2000\nThe Fordice State of the State speech in the late 1990s, juxtaposed with President Donald Trump’s recent State of the Union address, crystallizes the political change that has occurred in the last quarter of a century.\nModern-day politicians, at least Donald Trump, can survive many more scandals than they could during the era of Kirk Fordice.\nFordice was a blunt spoken, in-your-face politician, and was immensely popular, especially among a growing Republican base of voters who had revered him as the party’s first governor of Mississippi since the 1800s.\nFor much of his gubernatorial tenure, hints of Fordice’s marital infidelity had been ignored, especially by the Christian right that embraced him.\nBut by the time of that fateful State of the State speech as the evidence piled up of Fordice’s indiscretion, no one was willing to stand up for him on that quiet January day in the ornate chamber of the Mississippi House as he spoke uninterrupted.\nIt should be noted that Fordice’s combustible tendencies, often berating both his allies and his enemies, might have contributed to those attending the State of the State not displaying any support for the governor.\nThe president also has a penchant for exploding in anger at those loyal to him and those who are not. In short, the president  has said and done things that would have doomed politicians in a past era – a not too distant era, such as the era when Fordice served as governor of Mississippi. Trump, on the other hand, remains popular  among Republicans.\nFor instance, as Trump recently delivered the longest State of the Union speech in modern American history, he was repeatedly interrupted by thunderous applause by his Republican supporters.\nTrue, Democrats sat quietly and a few heckled him, as has also occurred in recent years with Republican lawmakers when past Democratic presidents delivered their State of Union addresses. Many other Democrats simply did not attend Trump’s speech. \nStill, the support of loyal Republicans, both politicians and non-politicians, to Trump has not wavered and did not as he delivered his State of the Union address.\nThe president’s missteps or misdeeds are far too many to count. They include\nmultiple claims of sexual misconduct\n, including bragging of\nsexually assaulting women\n, being found guilty by a civil jury by a preponderance of the evidence of sexually assaulting a woman, being accused of sexual assault by countless others. He infamously\nbelittled the late Sen. John McCain for serving as a prisoner of war after his airplane was shot down in Vietnam\n. Trump was forced\nto close his charity endeavors\nafter they were found to be a scam. The list goes on and on.\nThere is\nevidence\nthat Trump was sleeping with a porn star.\nStill, nowhere is the support for the president stronger than right here in Mississippi among many Republican politicians and non-politicians. It is of note that right here in the heart of the Bible Belt not that many years ago people were so troubled by the conduct of a Mississippi governor that they sat quietly as he delivered his State of the State speech.\nMississippi Gov. Kirk Fordice’s Jeep Grand Cherokee is shown to the public Tuesday, Nov. 12, 1996, at the Mississippi Highway Patrol Headquarters in Jackson, Miss.  The State Highway Patrol had refused access to the sport utility vehicle that Fordice was driving when he crashed off a north Mississippi Interstate one week earlier. The 62-year-old governor, who remained in intensive care days later, said he did not remember anything of the accident.\nCredit:\nAP Photo\/Dan Loh\nAnd what did poor Kirk Fordice do to deserve their disdain?\nThe 60-something Fordice ended up leaving his wife, not for a younger woman, but for a woman who had been his high school sweetheart.\nGranted, that is nothing to be proud of, but compared to what is tolerated nowadays by Mississippians, especially by Mississippi politicians, Fordice’s scandal was fairly tame stuff.\nIdeas Editor\nBobby Harrison is Mississippi Today’s Ideas Editor, where he writes a weekly column on state politics and curates the Ideas section featuring guest essays on Mississippi’s most pressing challenges and opportunities. A lifelong Mississippian, Bobby believes in highlighting the state’s strengths while confronting its weaknesses, with the goal of making Mississippi a better place for all who live here. His decades-long career includes serving as sports editor, news editor, and capitol bureau chief at the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal and covering every major state political issue since the mid-1990s. A past Bill Minor Award recipient, Bobby has been recognized for news, commentary, and sports reporting, and twice named Advocate of the Year by the North Mississippi Special Needs Arc.\nRepublish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.","attrs_markdown":"Manage Consent\n\nWe use our own and third-party cookies and similar technologies to enhance and personalize your experience, analyze use of our website, and conduct marketing. 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Power](https:\/\/mississippitoday.org\/projects\/abuse-of-power-in-mississippi\/)\n- [Brain Drain](https:\/\/mississippitoday.org\/projects\/brain-drain\/)\n- [Cartoons](https:\/\/mississippitoday.org\/tag\/cartoons\/)\n\n[![Mississippi Today logo with 10 year anniversary mark](https:\/\/cdn.mississippitoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/14122347\/MS-Today_10_Years_Horizontal_CMYK-1.png)](https:\/\/mississippitoday.org\/)\n\n[Mississippi Today](https:\/\/mississippitoday.org\/)\n\nPulitzer Prize-winning Nonprofit News\n\n[Donate](https:\/\/donate.mississippitoday.org\/?org_id=mississippitoday&campaign=7010b000000ez8oAAA) [Free Newsletters](https:\/\/mississippitoday.org\/newsletters)\n\nMenu\n\nPosted in[Mississippi Today Ideas](https:\/\/mississippitoday.org\/category\/mississippi-today-ideas\/)\n\n# Gov. Fordice, from different era, was judged much more harshly than President Trump\n![Bobby Harrison](https:\/\/cdn.mississippitoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/17090554\/bobbyharrison-profile.jpg)  by [Bobby Harrison](https:\/\/mississippitoday.org\/author\/bharrison\/)\n\nMarch 1, 2026\n\nMarch 31, 2026\n\n### Share this:\n- [Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook](https:\/\/mississippitoday.org\/2026\/03\/01\/donald-trump-kirk-fordice-state-of-state\/?share=facebook&nb=1)\n- [Share on Bluesky (Opens in new window) Bluesky](https:\/\/mississippitoday.org\/2026\/03\/01\/donald-trump-kirk-fordice-state-of-state\/?share=bluesky&nb=1)\n- [Share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn](https:\/\/mississippitoday.org\/2026\/03\/01\/donald-trump-kirk-fordice-state-of-state\/?share=linkedin&nb=1)\n- [Share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit](https:\/\/mississippitoday.org\/2026\/03\/01\/donald-trump-kirk-fordice-state-of-state\/?share=reddit&nb=1)\n- [Share on X (Opens in new window) X](https:\/\/mississippitoday.org\/2026\/03\/01\/donald-trump-kirk-fordice-state-of-state\/?share=x&nb=1)\n- [Email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email](mailto:?subject=%5BShared%20Post%5D%20Gov.%20Fordice%2C%20from%20different%20era%2C%20was%20judged%20much%20more%20harshly%20than%20President%20Trump&body=https%3A%2F%2Fmississippitoday.org%2F2026%2F03%2F01%2Fdonald-trump-kirk-fordice-state-of-state%2F&share=email&nb=1)\n- [Print (Opens in new window) Print](https:\/\/mississippitoday.org\/2026\/03\/01\/donald-trump-kirk-fordice-state-of-state\/#print?share=print&nb=1)\n\n[Add us on GoogleAdd Mississippi Today as your preferred source to see more of our reporting on Google.](https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=mississippitoday.org)\n\n![](https:\/\/cdn.mississippitoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/25173435\/AP26056113313791-780x520.jpg)\n\nVice President JD Vance, left, and House Speaker Mike Johnson applaud President Donald Trump during his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress in the House chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026. Credit: AP Photo\/Alex Brandon\n\nJoin **35,000 readers** who wake up informed. **Sign up for our free daily newsletter** to get the latest Mississippi news directly in your inbox every weekday.\n\n***Wake up informed.** [Sign up for our free daily newsletter](https:\/\/mississippitoday.org\/newsletters\/the-today\/) and join over 35,000 Mississippians who start their day with Mississippi Today.*\n\nAudio recording is automated for accessibility. Humans wrote and edited the story.\n\nLate in his second term as governor of Mississippi, [Kirk Fordice](https:\/\/www.legacy.com\/us\/obituaries\/sunherald\/name\/kirk-fordice-obituary?pid=2591847) delivered a State of the State speech where he was not interrupted a single time by applause.\n\nThe House chamber in the state Capitol was as quiet as a church mouse on a Sunday morning.\n\nBy the time Fordice delivered the State of the State address sans applause, a series of events had occurred making it clear he was cheating on First Lady Pat Fordice. Those events culminated with a near-fatal car wreck the governor suffered in November 1996 while returning to Jackson after sneaking away to visit another woman in Memphis.\n\n![](https:\/\/cdn.mississippitoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/07065020\/Kirk-Fordice.jpg)\n\nKirk Fordice, governor of Mississippi 1992-2000\n\nThe Fordice State of the State speech in the late 1990s, juxtaposed with President Donald Trump’s recent State of the Union address, crystallizes the political change that has occurred in the last quarter of a century.\n\nModern-day politicians, at least Donald Trump, can survive many more scandals than they could during the era of Kirk Fordice.\n\nFordice was a blunt spoken, in-your-face politician, and was immensely popular, especially among a growing Republican base of voters who had revered him as the party’s first governor of Mississippi since the 1800s.\n\nFor much of his gubernatorial tenure, hints of Fordice’s marital infidelity had been ignored, especially by the Christian right that embraced him.\n\nBut by the time of that fateful State of the State speech as the evidence piled up of Fordice’s indiscretion, no one was willing to stand up for him on that quiet January day in the ornate chamber of the Mississippi House as he spoke uninterrupted.\n\nIt should be noted that Fordice’s combustible tendencies, often berating both his allies and his enemies, might have contributed to those attending the State of the State not displaying any support for the governor.\n\nThe president also has a penchant for exploding in anger at those loyal to him and those who are not. In short, the president has said and done things that would have doomed politicians in a past era – a not too distant era, such as the era when Fordice served as governor of Mississippi. Trump, on the other hand, remains popular among Republicans.\n\nFor instance, as Trump recently delivered the longest State of the Union speech in modern American history, he was repeatedly interrupted by thunderous applause by his Republican supporters.\n\nTrue, Democrats sat quietly and a few heckled him, as has also occurred in recent years with Republican lawmakers when past Democratic presidents delivered their State of Union addresses. Many other Democrats simply did not attend Trump’s speech.\n\nStill, the support of loyal Republicans, both politicians and non-politicians, to Trump has not wavered and did not as he delivered his State of the Union address.\n\nThe president’s missteps or misdeeds are far too many to count. They include [multiple claims of sexual misconduct](https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2023\/05\/09\/trump-e-jean-carroll-trial-verdict-00096009), including bragging of [sexually assaulting women](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/election-us-2016-37595321), being found guilty by a civil jury by a preponderance of the evidence of sexually assaulting a woman, being accused of sexual assault by countless others. He infamously [belittled the late Sen. John McCain for serving as a prisoner of war after his airplane was shot down in Vietnam](https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/nation\/__trashed-2). Trump was forced [to close his charity endeavors](https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2018\/12\/18\/677778958\/trump-foundation-to-dissolve-amid-new-york-ags-investigation) after they were found to be a scam. The list goes on and on.\n\nThere is [evidence](https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2024\/05\/30\/donald-trump-guilty-hush-money-trial-00160460) that Trump was sleeping with a porn star.\n\nStill, nowhere is the support for the president stronger than right here in Mississippi among many Republican politicians and non-politicians. It is of note that right here in the heart of the Bible Belt not that many years ago people were so troubled by the conduct of a Mississippi governor that they sat quietly as he delivered his State of the State speech.\n\n![](https:\/\/cdn.mississippitoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/26172332\/AP96111202453-e1772148308434.jpg)\n\nMississippi Gov. Kirk Fordice’s Jeep Grand Cherokee is shown to the public Tuesday, Nov. 12, 1996, at the Mississippi Highway Patrol Headquarters in Jackson, Miss. The State Highway Patrol had refused access to the sport utility vehicle that Fordice was driving when he crashed off a north Mississippi Interstate one week earlier. The 62-year-old governor, who remained in intensive care days later, said he did not remember anything of the accident. Credit: AP Photo\/Dan Loh\n\nAnd what did poor Kirk Fordice do to deserve their disdain?\n\nThe 60-something Fordice ended up leaving his wife, not for a younger woman, but for a woman who had been his high school sweetheart.\n\nGranted, that is nothing to be proud of, but compared to what is tolerated nowadays by Mississippians, especially by Mississippi politicians, Fordice’s scandal was fairly tame stuff.\n\n***\n## Stand Up for Press Freedom in Mississippi\n*From detailed reporting on the **[predawn fire at the Beth Israel Congregation](https:\/\/mississippitoday.org\/tag\/synagogue-fire\/)** to updates on legal proceedings and community reactions, your contributions allow us to hold power to account and keep every Mississippian informed. **Support Mississippi Today** with a donation and help us continue covering the stories that matter.*\n\n[BECOME A MEMBER](https:\/\/donate.mississippitoday.org\/?campaign=7010b000000ezLpAAI)\n\n## Related Stories\n[![](https:\/\/cdn.mississippitoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/16174909\/AP18221830388243-800x600.jpg)Former federal law clerk: Jackson loses three titans who had national influence](https:\/\/mississippitoday.org\/2026\/04\/14\/jackson-titans-jolly-lewis-perkins\/)\n\n[![](https:\/\/cdn.mississippitoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/17182414\/3X0A3088-800x600.jpg)Hob Bryan is wrongly cited by Gov. Reeves in age-old dispute over who controls federal funds](https:\/\/mississippitoday.org\/2026\/04\/12\/hob-bryan-tate-reeves-legislature-veto\/)\n\n[![](https:\/\/cdn.mississippitoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/06132529\/3X0A2575-800x600.jpg)Professor: Saga of the Mississippi Five is example of how the state’s parole system is broken](https:\/\/mississippitoday.org\/2026\/04\/10\/mississippi-five-parole-loretta-pierre\/)\n\n[![](https:\/\/cdn.mississippitoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/01131953\/3X0A3207-800x600.jpg)Senator: Members of Mississippi Legislature should serve, not target people](https:\/\/mississippitoday.org\/2026\/04\/07\/mississippi-legislature-senate-bill-2322-rod-hickman\/)\n\n## Most Read Stories\n[![](https:\/\/cdn.mississippitoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/30173943\/2-Valley-Park-MS-Jan-27-2026-800x600.jpeg)Federal and state tax deadlines pushed back for Mississippians due to winter storm](https:\/\/mississippitoday.org\/2026\/04\/15\/tax-deadlines-winter-storm-mississippi\/)\n\n[![](https:\/\/cdn.mississippitoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/06211522\/2048px-Money_Cash-800x600-1.jpg)Legislative watchdog report says most private school tax credits are not being spent on education](https:\/\/mississippitoday.org\/2026\/04\/15\/private-school-tax-credits-mississippi\/)\n\n[![](https:\/\/cdn.mississippitoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/17182358\/3X0A3063-800x600.jpg)Mississippi exposed to SNAP penalties after legislation dies](https:\/\/mississippitoday.org\/2026\/04\/14\/snap-fines-mississippi-reporting\/)\n\n[![](https:\/\/cdn.mississippitoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/18094041\/3X0A2141-800x600.jpg)NAACP sues xAI over data center turbines in Southaven](https:\/\/mississippitoday.org\/2026\/04\/15\/data-center-turbines-southaven\/)\n\n## Recent Stories\n[![](https:\/\/cdn.mississippitoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/15153328\/3X0A7339-800x600.jpg)Back at the Capitol with nothing to show for it: Legislature fails to override Gov. Reeves’ vetoes](https:\/\/mississippitoday.org\/2026\/04\/15\/legislature-fails-override-vetoes\/)\n\n[![](https:\/\/cdn.mississippitoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/13142201\/TASERSDoyle-75-800x600.jpg)Simpson County family files \\$150 million lawsuit in Taser-related death](https:\/\/mississippitoday.org\/2026\/04\/15\/lawsuit-taser-related-death\/)\n\n[![](https:\/\/cdn.mississippitoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/03134312\/3X0A2200-800x600.jpg)Reeves approves \\$100M for new UMMC cancer center](https:\/\/mississippitoday.org\/2026\/04\/15\/reeves-100m-ummc-cancer-center\/)\n\n[![](https:\/\/cdn.mississippitoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/15090051\/Tristen-Bissetta-800x600.jpg)Baseball is a game of streaks, and Bianco’s Rebels are on a red-hot one](https:\/\/mississippitoday.org\/2026\/04\/15\/ole-miss-baseball-bianco-hot-streak\/)\n\nTagged: [Fordice](https:\/\/mississippitoday.org\/tag\/fordice\/), [Trump](https:\/\/mississippitoday.org\/tag\/trump\/)\n\n[![Profile picture of Bobby Harrison](https:\/\/cdn.mississippitoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/17090554\/bobbyharrison-profile.jpg)](https:\/\/mississippitoday.org\/author\/bharrison\/)\n\n### [Bobby Harrison](https:\/\/mississippitoday.org\/author\/bharrison\/)\nIdeas Editor\n\nBobby Harrison is Mississippi Today’s Ideas Editor, where he writes a weekly column on state politics and curates the Ideas section featuring guest essays on Mississippi’s most pressing challenges and opportunities. A lifelong Mississippian, Bobby believes in highlighting the state’s strengths while confronting its weaknesses, with the goal of making Mississippi a better place for all who live here. His decades-long career includes serving as sports editor, news editor, and capitol bureau chief at the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal and covering every major state political issue since the mid-1990s. 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Fordice, from different era, was judged much more harshly than President Trump\nby Bobby Harrison, Mississippi Today   \nMarch 1, 2026\n\n\\<h1\\>Gov. Fordice, from different era, was judged much more harshly than President Trump\\<\/h1\\> \\<p class=\"byline\"\\>by Bobby Harrison, Mississippi Today \\<br\\>March 1, 2026\\<\/p\\> \\<div class=\"wp-block-custom-everlit-iframe-embed\"\\>\\<\/div\\> \\<p\\>Late in his second term as governor of Mississippi, \\<a href=\"https:\/\/www.legacy.com\/us\/obituaries\/sunherald\/name\/kirk-fordice-obituary?pid=2591847\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.legacy.com\/us\/obituaries\/sunherald\/name\/kirk-fordice-obituary?pid=2591847\"\\>Kirk Fordice\\<\/a\\> delivered a State of the State speech where he was not interrupted a single time by applause.\\<\/p\\> \\<p\\>The House chamber in the state Capitol was as quiet as a church mouse on a Sunday morning.\\<\/p\\> \\<p\\>By the time Fordice delivered the State of the State address sans applause, a series of events had occurred making it clear he was cheating on First Lady Pat Fordice. Those events culminated with a near-fatal car wreck the governor suffered in November 1996 while returning to Jackson after sneaking away to visit another woman in Memphis.\\<\/p\\> \\<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignleft size-full is-resized\"\\>\\<img src=\"https:\/\/cdn.mississippitoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/07065020\/Kirk-Fordice.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-56889\" style=\"width:345px;height:auto\"\\>\\<figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"\\>Kirk Fordice, governor of Mississippi 1992-2000\\<\/figcaption\\>\\<\/figure\\> \\<p\\>The Fordice State of the State speech in the late 1990s, juxtaposed with President Donald Trump’s recent State of the Union address, crystallizes the political change that has occurred in the last quarter of a century.\\<\/p\\> \\<p\\>Modern-day politicians, at least Donald Trump, can survive many more scandals than they could during the era of Kirk Fordice.\\<\/p\\> \\<p\\>Fordice was a blunt spoken, in-your-face politician, and was immensely popular, especially among a growing Republican base of voters who had revered him as the party's first governor of Mississippi since the 1800s.\\<\/p\\> \\<p\\>For much of his gubernatorial tenure, hints of Fordice’s marital infidelity had been ignored, especially by the Christian right that embraced him.\\<\/p\\> \\<p\\>But by the time of that fateful State of the State speech as the evidence piled up of Fordice's indiscretion, no one was willing to stand up for him on that quiet January day in the ornate chamber of the Mississippi House as he spoke uninterrupted.\\<\/p\\> \\<p\\>It should be noted that Fordice's combustible tendencies, often berating both his allies and his enemies, might have contributed to those attending the State of the State not displaying any support for the governor.\\<\/p\\> \\<p\\>The president also has a penchant for exploding in anger at those loyal to him and those who are not. In short, the president has said and done things that would have doomed politicians in a past era – a not too distant era, such as the era when Fordice served as governor of Mississippi. Trump, on the other hand, remains popular among Republicans.\\<\/p\\> \\<p\\>For instance, as Trump recently delivered the longest State of the Union speech in modern American history, he was repeatedly interrupted by thunderous applause by his Republican supporters.\\<\/p\\> \\<p\\>True, Democrats sat quietly and a few heckled him, as has also occurred in recent years with Republican lawmakers when past Democratic presidents delivered their State of Union addresses. Many other Democrats simply did not attend Trump's speech. \\<\/p\\> \\<p\\>Still, the support of loyal Republicans, both politicians and non-politicians, to Trump has not wavered and did not as he delivered his State of the Union address.\\<\/p\\> \\<p\\>The president's missteps or misdeeds are far too many to count. They include \\<a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2023\/05\/09\/trump-e-jean-carroll-trial-verdict-00096009\"\\>multiple claims of sexual misconduct\\<\/a\\>, including bragging of \\<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/election-us-2016-37595321\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/election-us-2016-37595321\"\\>sexually assaulting women\\<\/a\\>, being found guilty by a civil jury by a preponderance of the evidence of sexually assaulting a woman, being accused of sexual assault by countless others. He infamously \\<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/nation\/\\_\\_trashed-2\"\\>belittled the late Sen. John McCain for serving as a prisoner of war after his airplane was shot down in Vietnam\\<\/a\\>. Trump was forced \\<a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2018\/12\/18\/677778958\/trump-foundation-to-dissolve-amid-new-york-ags-investigation\"\\>to close his charity endeavors \\<\/a\\>after they were found to be a scam. The list goes on and on.\\<\/p\\> \\<p\\>There is \\<a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2024\/05\/30\/donald-trump-guilty-hush-money-trial-00160460\"\\>evidence\\<\/a\\> that Trump was sleeping with a porn star.\\<\/p\\> \\<p\\>Still, nowhere is the support for the president stronger than right here in Mississippi among many Republican politicians and non-politicians. It is of note that right here in the heart of the Bible Belt not that many years ago people were so troubled by the conduct of a Mississippi governor that they sat quietly as he delivered his State of the State speech.\\<\/p\\> \\<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"\\>\\<img src=\"https:\/\/cdn.mississippitoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/26172332\/AP96111202453-e1772148308434.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1170014\"\\>\\<figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"\\>Mississippi Gov. Kirk Fordice's Jeep Grand Cherokee is shown to the public Tuesday, Nov. 12, 1996, at the Mississippi Highway Patrol Headquarters in Jackson, Miss. The State Highway Patrol had refused access to the sport utility vehicle that Fordice was driving when he crashed off a north Mississippi Interstate one week earlier. The 62-year-old governor, who remained in intensive care days later, said he did not remember anything of the accident. \\<\/figcaption\\>\\<\/figure\\> \\<p\\>And what did poor Kirk Fordice do to deserve their disdain?\\<\/p\\> \\<p\\>The 60-something Fordice ended up leaving his wife, not for a younger woman, but for a woman who had been his high school sweetheart.\\<\/p\\> \\<p\\>Granted, that is nothing to be proud of, but compared to what is tolerated nowadays by Mississippians, especially by Mississippi politicians, Fordice’s scandal was fairly tame stuff.\\<\/p\\> \\<p\\>This \\<a target=\"\\_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/mississippitoday.org\/2026\/03\/01\/donald-trump-kirk-fordice-state-of-state\/\"\\>article\\<\/a\\> first appeared on \\<a target=\"\\_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/mississippitoday.org\"\\>Mississippi Today\\<\/a\\> and is republished here under a \\<a target=\"\\_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nd\/4.0\/\"\\>Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License\\<\/a\\>.\\<img src=\"https:\/\/cdn.mississippitoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/14121725\/cropped-MS-Today\\_10\\_Years\\_Logo\\_Yellow\\_WEB-180x180.png\" style=\"width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;\"\\>\\<\/p\\> \\<img id=\"republication-tracker-tool-source\" src=\"https:\/\/mississippitoday.org\/?republication-pixel=true\\&post=1169838\\&amp;ga4=G-VSX4B701MS\" style=\"width:1px;height:1px;\"\\>\n\nCopy to Clipboard","attrs_readable_markdown":"![](https:\/\/cdn.mississippitoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/25173435\/AP26056113313791-780x520.jpg)\n\nVice President JD Vance, left, and House Speaker Mike Johnson applaud President Donald Trump during his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress in the House chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026. Credit: AP Photo\/Alex Brandon\n\nAudio recording is automated for accessibility. Humans wrote and edited the story.\n\nLate in his second term as governor of Mississippi, [Kirk Fordice](https:\/\/www.legacy.com\/us\/obituaries\/sunherald\/name\/kirk-fordice-obituary?pid=2591847) delivered a State of the State speech where he was not interrupted a single time by applause.\n\nThe House chamber in the state Capitol was as quiet as a church mouse on a Sunday morning.\n\nBy the time Fordice delivered the State of the State address sans applause, a series of events had occurred making it clear he was cheating on First Lady Pat Fordice. Those events culminated with a near-fatal car wreck the governor suffered in November 1996 while returning to Jackson after sneaking away to visit another woman in Memphis.\n\n![](https:\/\/cdn.mississippitoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/07065020\/Kirk-Fordice.jpg)\n\nKirk Fordice, governor of Mississippi 1992-2000\n\nThe Fordice State of the State speech in the late 1990s, juxtaposed with President Donald Trump’s recent State of the Union address, crystallizes the political change that has occurred in the last quarter of a century.\n\nModern-day politicians, at least Donald Trump, can survive many more scandals than they could during the era of Kirk Fordice.\n\nFordice was a blunt spoken, in-your-face politician, and was immensely popular, especially among a growing Republican base of voters who had revered him as the party’s first governor of Mississippi since the 1800s.\n\nFor much of his gubernatorial tenure, hints of Fordice’s marital infidelity had been ignored, especially by the Christian right that embraced him.\n\nBut by the time of that fateful State of the State speech as the evidence piled up of Fordice’s indiscretion, no one was willing to stand up for him on that quiet January day in the ornate chamber of the Mississippi House as he spoke uninterrupted.\n\nIt should be noted that Fordice’s combustible tendencies, often berating both his allies and his enemies, might have contributed to those attending the State of the State not displaying any support for the governor.\n\nThe president also has a penchant for exploding in anger at those loyal to him and those who are not. In short, the president has said and done things that would have doomed politicians in a past era – a not too distant era, such as the era when Fordice served as governor of Mississippi. Trump, on the other hand, remains popular among Republicans.\n\nFor instance, as Trump recently delivered the longest State of the Union speech in modern American history, he was repeatedly interrupted by thunderous applause by his Republican supporters.\n\nTrue, Democrats sat quietly and a few heckled him, as has also occurred in recent years with Republican lawmakers when past Democratic presidents delivered their State of Union addresses. Many other Democrats simply did not attend Trump’s speech.\n\nStill, the support of loyal Republicans, both politicians and non-politicians, to Trump has not wavered and did not as he delivered his State of the Union address.\n\nThe president’s missteps or misdeeds are far too many to count. They include [multiple claims of sexual misconduct](https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2023\/05\/09\/trump-e-jean-carroll-trial-verdict-00096009), including bragging of [sexually assaulting women](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/election-us-2016-37595321), being found guilty by a civil jury by a preponderance of the evidence of sexually assaulting a woman, being accused of sexual assault by countless others. He infamously [belittled the late Sen. John McCain for serving as a prisoner of war after his airplane was shot down in Vietnam](https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/nation\/__trashed-2). Trump was forced [to close his charity endeavors](https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2018\/12\/18\/677778958\/trump-foundation-to-dissolve-amid-new-york-ags-investigation) after they were found to be a scam. The list goes on and on.\n\nThere is [evidence](https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2024\/05\/30\/donald-trump-guilty-hush-money-trial-00160460) that Trump was sleeping with a porn star.\n\nStill, nowhere is the support for the president stronger than right here in Mississippi among many Republican politicians and non-politicians. It is of note that right here in the heart of the Bible Belt not that many years ago people were so troubled by the conduct of a Mississippi governor that they sat quietly as he delivered his State of the State speech.\n\n![](https:\/\/cdn.mississippitoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/26172332\/AP96111202453-e1772148308434.jpg)\n\nMississippi Gov. Kirk Fordice’s Jeep Grand Cherokee is shown to the public Tuesday, Nov. 12, 1996, at the Mississippi Highway Patrol Headquarters in Jackson, Miss. The State Highway Patrol had refused access to the sport utility vehicle that Fordice was driving when he crashed off a north Mississippi Interstate one week earlier. The 62-year-old governor, who remained in intensive care days later, said he did not remember anything of the accident. Credit: AP Photo\/Dan Loh\n\nAnd what did poor Kirk Fordice do to deserve their disdain?\n\nThe 60-something Fordice ended up leaving his wife, not for a younger woman, but for a woman who had been his high school sweetheart.\n\nGranted, that is nothing to be proud of, but compared to what is tolerated nowadays by Mississippians, especially by Mississippi politicians, Fordice’s scandal was fairly tame stuff.\n\n[![Profile picture of Bobby Harrison](https:\/\/cdn.mississippitoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/17090554\/bobbyharrison-profile.jpg)](https:\/\/mississippitoday.org\/author\/bharrison\/)\n\nIdeas Editor\n\nBobby Harrison is Mississippi Today’s Ideas Editor, where he writes a weekly column on state politics and curates the Ideas section featuring guest essays on Mississippi’s most pressing challenges and opportunities. A lifelong Mississippian, Bobby believes in highlighting the state’s strengths while confronting its weaknesses, with the goal of making Mississippi a better place for all who live here. His decades-long career includes serving as sports editor, news editor, and capitol bureau chief at the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal and covering every major state political issue since the mid-1990s. A past Bill Minor Award recipient, Bobby has been recognized for news, commentary, and sports reporting, and twice named Advocate of the Year by the North Mississippi Special Needs Arc.\n\n[![Creative Commons License](https:\/\/mississippitoday.org\/wp-content\/plugins\/republication-tracker-tool\/assets\/img\/cc-by-nd-4.0.png)](https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nd\/4.0\/)\n\nRepublish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.","meta_canonical":null}

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Meta Title	Gov. Fordice, from different era, was judged much more harshly than President Trump
Meta Description	Reactions to Gov. Kirk Fordice's last State of State and most recent Donald Trump State of Union highlight how people now respond differently to scandal.
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Boilerpipe Text	Vice President JD Vance, left, and House Speaker Mike Johnson applaud President Donald Trump during his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress in the House chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026. Credit: AP Photo/Alex Brandon Audio recording is automated for accessibility. Humans wrote and edited the story. Late in his second term as governor of Mississippi, Kirk Fordice delivered a State of the State speech where he was not interrupted a single time by applause. The House chamber in the state Capitol was as quiet as a church mouse on a Sunday morning. By the time Fordice delivered the State of the State address sans applause, a series of events had occurred making it clear he was cheating on First Lady Pat Fordice. Those events culminated with a near-fatal car wreck the governor suffered in November 1996 while returning to Jackson after sneaking away to visit another woman in Memphis. Kirk Fordice, governor of Mississippi 1992-2000 The Fordice State of the State speech in the late 1990s, juxtaposed with President Donald Trump’s recent State of the Union address, crystallizes the political change that has occurred in the last quarter of a century. Modern-day politicians, at least Donald Trump, can survive many more scandals than they could during the era of Kirk Fordice. Fordice was a blunt spoken, in-your-face politician, and was immensely popular, especially among a growing Republican base of voters who had revered him as the party’s first governor of Mississippi since the 1800s. For much of his gubernatorial tenure, hints of Fordice’s marital infidelity had been ignored, especially by the Christian right that embraced him. But by the time of that fateful State of the State speech as the evidence piled up of Fordice’s indiscretion, no one was willing to stand up for him on that quiet January day in the ornate chamber of the Mississippi House as he spoke uninterrupted. It should be noted that Fordice’s combustible tendencies, often berating both his allies and his enemies, might have contributed to those attending the State of the State not displaying any support for the governor. The president also has a penchant for exploding in anger at those loyal to him and those who are not. In short, the president has said and done things that would have doomed politicians in a past era – a not too distant era, such as the era when Fordice served as governor of Mississippi. Trump, on the other hand, remains popular among Republicans. For instance, as Trump recently delivered the longest State of the Union speech in modern American history, he was repeatedly interrupted by thunderous applause by his Republican supporters. True, Democrats sat quietly and a few heckled him, as has also occurred in recent years with Republican lawmakers when past Democratic presidents delivered their State of Union addresses. Many other Democrats simply did not attend Trump’s speech. Still, the support of loyal Republicans, both politicians and non-politicians, to Trump has not wavered and did not as he delivered his State of the Union address. The president’s missteps or misdeeds are far too many to count. They include multiple claims of sexual misconduct , including bragging of sexually assaulting women , being found guilty by a civil jury by a preponderance of the evidence of sexually assaulting a woman, being accused of sexual assault by countless others. He infamously belittled the late Sen. John McCain for serving as a prisoner of war after his airplane was shot down in Vietnam . Trump was forced to close his charity endeavors after they were found to be a scam. The list goes on and on. There is evidence that Trump was sleeping with a porn star. Still, nowhere is the support for the president stronger than right here in Mississippi among many Republican politicians and non-politicians. It is of note that right here in the heart of the Bible Belt not that many years ago people were so troubled by the conduct of a Mississippi governor that they sat quietly as he delivered his State of the State speech. Mississippi Gov. Kirk Fordice’s Jeep Grand Cherokee is shown to the public Tuesday, Nov. 12, 1996, at the Mississippi Highway Patrol Headquarters in Jackson, Miss. The State Highway Patrol had refused access to the sport utility vehicle that Fordice was driving when he crashed off a north Mississippi Interstate one week earlier. The 62-year-old governor, who remained in intensive care days later, said he did not remember anything of the accident. Credit: AP Photo/Dan Loh And what did poor Kirk Fordice do to deserve their disdain? The 60-something Fordice ended up leaving his wife, not for a younger woman, but for a woman who had been his high school sweetheart. Granted, that is nothing to be proud of, but compared to what is tolerated nowadays by Mississippians, especially by Mississippi politicians, Fordice’s scandal was fairly tame stuff. Ideas Editor Bobby Harrison is Mississippi Today’s Ideas Editor, where he writes a weekly column on state politics and curates the Ideas section featuring guest essays on Mississippi’s most pressing challenges and opportunities. A lifelong Mississippian, Bobby believes in highlighting the state’s strengths while confronting its weaknesses, with the goal of making Mississippi a better place for all who live here. His decades-long career includes serving as sports editor, news editor, and capitol bureau chief at the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal and covering every major state political issue since the mid-1990s. A past Bill Minor Award recipient, Bobby has been recognized for news, commentary, and sports reporting, and twice named Advocate of the Year by the North Mississippi Special Needs Arc. Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
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Fordice, from different era, was judged much more harshly than President Trump ![Bobby Harrison](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/17090554/bobbyharrison-profile.jpg) by [Bobby Harrison](https://mississippitoday.org/author/bharrison/) March 1, 2026 March 31, 2026 ### Share this: - [Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook](https://mississippitoday.org/2026/03/01/donald-trump-kirk-fordice-state-of-state/?share=facebook&nb=1) - [Share on Bluesky (Opens in new window) Bluesky](https://mississippitoday.org/2026/03/01/donald-trump-kirk-fordice-state-of-state/?share=bluesky&nb=1) - [Share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn](https://mississippitoday.org/2026/03/01/donald-trump-kirk-fordice-state-of-state/?share=linkedin&nb=1) - [Share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit](https://mississippitoday.org/2026/03/01/donald-trump-kirk-fordice-state-of-state/?share=reddit&nb=1) - [Share on X (Opens in new window) X](https://mississippitoday.org/2026/03/01/donald-trump-kirk-fordice-state-of-state/?share=x&nb=1) - [Email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email](mailto:?subject=%5BShared%20Post%5D%20Gov.%20Fordice%2C%20from%20different%20era%2C%20was%20judged%20much%20more%20harshly%20than%20President%20Trump&body=https%3A%2F%2Fmississippitoday.org%2F2026%2F03%2F01%2Fdonald-trump-kirk-fordice-state-of-state%2F&share=email&nb=1) - [Print (Opens in new window) Print](https://mississippitoday.org/2026/03/01/donald-trump-kirk-fordice-state-of-state/#print?share=print&nb=1) [Add us on GoogleAdd Mississippi Today as your preferred source to see more of our reporting on Google.](https://www.google.com/preferences/source?q=mississippitoday.org) ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/25173435/AP26056113313791-780x520.jpg) Vice President JD Vance, left, and House Speaker Mike Johnson applaud President Donald Trump during his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress in the House chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026. Credit: AP Photo/Alex Brandon Join 35,000 readers who wake up informed. Sign up for our free daily newsletter to get the latest Mississippi news directly in your inbox every weekday. *Wake up informed. [Sign up for our free daily newsletter](https://mississippitoday.org/newsletters/the-today/) and join over 35,000 Mississippians who start their day with Mississippi Today.* Audio recording is automated for accessibility. Humans wrote and edited the story. Late in his second term as governor of Mississippi, [Kirk Fordice](https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/sunherald/name/kirk-fordice-obituary?pid=2591847) delivered a State of the State speech where he was not interrupted a single time by applause. The House chamber in the state Capitol was as quiet as a church mouse on a Sunday morning. By the time Fordice delivered the State of the State address sans applause, a series of events had occurred making it clear he was cheating on First Lady Pat Fordice. Those events culminated with a near-fatal car wreck the governor suffered in November 1996 while returning to Jackson after sneaking away to visit another woman in Memphis. ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/07065020/Kirk-Fordice.jpg) Kirk Fordice, governor of Mississippi 1992-2000 The Fordice State of the State speech in the late 1990s, juxtaposed with President Donald Trump’s recent State of the Union address, crystallizes the political change that has occurred in the last quarter of a century. Modern-day politicians, at least Donald Trump, can survive many more scandals than they could during the era of Kirk Fordice. Fordice was a blunt spoken, in-your-face politician, and was immensely popular, especially among a growing Republican base of voters who had revered him as the party’s first governor of Mississippi since the 1800s. For much of his gubernatorial tenure, hints of Fordice’s marital infidelity had been ignored, especially by the Christian right that embraced him. But by the time of that fateful State of the State speech as the evidence piled up of Fordice’s indiscretion, no one was willing to stand up for him on that quiet January day in the ornate chamber of the Mississippi House as he spoke uninterrupted. It should be noted that Fordice’s combustible tendencies, often berating both his allies and his enemies, might have contributed to those attending the State of the State not displaying any support for the governor. The president also has a penchant for exploding in anger at those loyal to him and those who are not. In short, the president has said and done things that would have doomed politicians in a past era – a not too distant era, such as the era when Fordice served as governor of Mississippi. Trump, on the other hand, remains popular among Republicans. For instance, as Trump recently delivered the longest State of the Union speech in modern American history, he was repeatedly interrupted by thunderous applause by his Republican supporters. True, Democrats sat quietly and a few heckled him, as has also occurred in recent years with Republican lawmakers when past Democratic presidents delivered their State of Union addresses. Many other Democrats simply did not attend Trump’s speech. Still, the support of loyal Republicans, both politicians and non-politicians, to Trump has not wavered and did not as he delivered his State of the Union address. The president’s missteps or misdeeds are far too many to count. They include [multiple claims of sexual misconduct](https://www.politico.com/news/2023/05/09/trump-e-jean-carroll-trial-verdict-00096009), including bragging of [sexually assaulting women](https://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2016-37595321), being found guilty by a civil jury by a preponderance of the evidence of sexually assaulting a woman, being accused of sexual assault by countless others. He infamously [belittled the late Sen. John McCain for serving as a prisoner of war after his airplane was shot down in Vietnam](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/__trashed-2). Trump was forced [to close his charity endeavors](https://www.npr.org/2018/12/18/677778958/trump-foundation-to-dissolve-amid-new-york-ags-investigation) after they were found to be a scam. The list goes on and on. There is [evidence](https://www.politico.com/news/2024/05/30/donald-trump-guilty-hush-money-trial-00160460) that Trump was sleeping with a porn star. Still, nowhere is the support for the president stronger than right here in Mississippi among many Republican politicians and non-politicians. It is of note that right here in the heart of the Bible Belt not that many years ago people were so troubled by the conduct of a Mississippi governor that they sat quietly as he delivered his State of the State speech. ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/26172332/AP96111202453-e1772148308434.jpg) Mississippi Gov. Kirk Fordice’s Jeep Grand Cherokee is shown to the public Tuesday, Nov. 12, 1996, at the Mississippi Highway Patrol Headquarters in Jackson, Miss. The State Highway Patrol had refused access to the sport utility vehicle that Fordice was driving when he crashed off a north Mississippi Interstate one week earlier. The 62-year-old governor, who remained in intensive care days later, said he did not remember anything of the accident. Credit: AP Photo/Dan Loh And what did poor Kirk Fordice do to deserve their disdain? The 60-something Fordice ended up leaving his wife, not for a younger woman, but for a woman who had been his high school sweetheart. Granted, that is nothing to be proud of, but compared to what is tolerated nowadays by Mississippians, especially by Mississippi politicians, Fordice’s scandal was fairly tame stuff. *** ## Stand Up for Press Freedom in Mississippi From detailed reporting on the [predawn fire at the Beth Israel Congregation](https://mississippitoday.org/tag/synagogue-fire/)* to updates on legal proceedings and community reactions, your contributions allow us to hold power to account and keep every Mississippian informed. 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Fordice, from different era, was judged much more harshly than President Trump by Bobby Harrison, Mississippi Today March 1, 2026 \<h1\>Gov. Fordice, from different era, was judged much more harshly than President Trump\</h1\> \<p class="byline"\>by Bobby Harrison, Mississippi Today \<br\>March 1, 2026\</p\> \<div class="wp-block-custom-everlit-iframe-embed"\>\</div\> \<p\>Late in his second term as governor of Mississippi, \<a href="https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/sunherald/name/kirk-fordice-obituary?pid=2591847" data-type="link" data-id="https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/sunherald/name/kirk-fordice-obituary?pid=2591847"\>Kirk Fordice\</a\> delivered a State of the State speech where he was not interrupted a single time by applause.\</p\> \<p\>The House chamber in the state Capitol was as quiet as a church mouse on a Sunday morning.\</p\> \<p\>By the time Fordice delivered the State of the State address sans applause, a series of events had occurred making it clear he was cheating on First Lady Pat Fordice. Those events culminated with a near-fatal car wreck the governor suffered in November 1996 while returning to Jackson after sneaking away to visit another woman in Memphis.\</p\> \<figure class="wp-block-image alignleft size-full is-resized"\>\<img src="https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/07065020/Kirk-Fordice.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-56889" style="width:345px;height:auto"\>\<figcaption class="wp-element-caption"\>Kirk Fordice, governor of Mississippi 1992-2000\</figcaption\>\</figure\> \<p\>The Fordice State of the State speech in the late 1990s, juxtaposed with President Donald Trump’s recent State of the Union address, crystallizes the political change that has occurred in the last quarter of a century.\</p\> \<p\>Modern-day politicians, at least Donald Trump, can survive many more scandals than they could during the era of Kirk Fordice.\</p\> \<p\>Fordice was a blunt spoken, in-your-face politician, and was immensely popular, especially among a growing Republican base of voters who had revered him as the party's first governor of Mississippi since the 1800s.\</p\> \<p\>For much of his gubernatorial tenure, hints of Fordice’s marital infidelity had been ignored, especially by the Christian right that embraced him.\</p\> \<p\>But by the time of that fateful State of the State speech as the evidence piled up of Fordice's indiscretion, no one was willing to stand up for him on that quiet January day in the ornate chamber of the Mississippi House as he spoke uninterrupted.\</p\> \<p\>It should be noted that Fordice's combustible tendencies, often berating both his allies and his enemies, might have contributed to those attending the State of the State not displaying any support for the governor.\</p\> \<p\>The president also has a penchant for exploding in anger at those loyal to him and those who are not. In short, the president has said and done things that would have doomed politicians in a past era – a not too distant era, such as the era when Fordice served as governor of Mississippi. Trump, on the other hand, remains popular among Republicans.\</p\> \<p\>For instance, as Trump recently delivered the longest State of the Union speech in modern American history, he was repeatedly interrupted by thunderous applause by his Republican supporters.\</p\> \<p\>True, Democrats sat quietly and a few heckled him, as has also occurred in recent years with Republican lawmakers when past Democratic presidents delivered their State of Union addresses. Many other Democrats simply did not attend Trump's speech. \</p\> \<p\>Still, the support of loyal Republicans, both politicians and non-politicians, to Trump has not wavered and did not as he delivered his State of the Union address.\</p\> \<p\>The president's missteps or misdeeds are far too many to count. They include \<a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2023/05/09/trump-e-jean-carroll-trial-verdict-00096009"\>multiple claims of sexual misconduct\</a\>, including bragging of \<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2016-37595321" data-type="link" data-id="https://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2016-37595321"\>sexually assaulting women\</a\>, being found guilty by a civil jury by a preponderance of the evidence of sexually assaulting a woman, being accused of sexual assault by countless others. He infamously \<a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/\_\_trashed-2"\>belittled the late Sen. John McCain for serving as a prisoner of war after his airplane was shot down in Vietnam\</a\>. Trump was forced \<a href="https://www.npr.org/2018/12/18/677778958/trump-foundation-to-dissolve-amid-new-york-ags-investigation"\>to close his charity endeavors \</a\>after they were found to be a scam. The list goes on and on.\</p\> \<p\>There is \<a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2024/05/30/donald-trump-guilty-hush-money-trial-00160460"\>evidence\</a\> that Trump was sleeping with a porn star.\</p\> \<p\>Still, nowhere is the support for the president stronger than right here in Mississippi among many Republican politicians and non-politicians. It is of note that right here in the heart of the Bible Belt not that many years ago people were so troubled by the conduct of a Mississippi governor that they sat quietly as he delivered his State of the State speech.\</p\> \<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"\>\<img src="https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/26172332/AP96111202453-e1772148308434.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1170014"\>\<figcaption class="wp-element-caption"\>Mississippi Gov. Kirk Fordice's Jeep Grand Cherokee is shown to the public Tuesday, Nov. 12, 1996, at the Mississippi Highway Patrol Headquarters in Jackson, Miss. The State Highway Patrol had refused access to the sport utility vehicle that Fordice was driving when he crashed off a north Mississippi Interstate one week earlier. The 62-year-old governor, who remained in intensive care days later, said he did not remember anything of the accident. \</figcaption\>\</figure\> \<p\>And what did poor Kirk Fordice do to deserve their disdain?\</p\> \<p\>The 60-something Fordice ended up leaving his wife, not for a younger woman, but for a woman who had been his high school sweetheart.\</p\> \<p\>Granted, that is nothing to be proud of, but compared to what is tolerated nowadays by Mississippians, especially by Mississippi politicians, Fordice’s scandal was fairly tame stuff.\</p\> \<p\>This \<a target="\_blank" href="https://mississippitoday.org/2026/03/01/donald-trump-kirk-fordice-state-of-state/"\>article\</a\> first appeared on \<a target="\_blank" href="https://mississippitoday.org"\>Mississippi Today\</a\> and is republished here under a \<a target="\_blank" href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/"\>Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License\</a\>.\<img src="https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/14121725/cropped-MS-Today\_10\_Years\_Logo\_Yellow\_WEB-180x180.png" style="width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;"\>\</p\> \<img id="republication-tracker-tool-source" src="https://mississippitoday.org/?republication-pixel=true\&post=1169838\&ga4=G-VSX4B701MS" style="width:1px;height:1px;"\> Copy to Clipboard
Readable Markdown	![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/25173435/AP26056113313791-780x520.jpg) Vice President JD Vance, left, and House Speaker Mike Johnson applaud President Donald Trump during his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress in the House chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026. Credit: AP Photo/Alex Brandon Audio recording is automated for accessibility. Humans wrote and edited the story. Late in his second term as governor of Mississippi, [Kirk Fordice](https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/sunherald/name/kirk-fordice-obituary?pid=2591847) delivered a State of the State speech where he was not interrupted a single time by applause. The House chamber in the state Capitol was as quiet as a church mouse on a Sunday morning. By the time Fordice delivered the State of the State address sans applause, a series of events had occurred making it clear he was cheating on First Lady Pat Fordice. Those events culminated with a near-fatal car wreck the governor suffered in November 1996 while returning to Jackson after sneaking away to visit another woman in Memphis. ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/07065020/Kirk-Fordice.jpg) Kirk Fordice, governor of Mississippi 1992-2000 The Fordice State of the State speech in the late 1990s, juxtaposed with President Donald Trump’s recent State of the Union address, crystallizes the political change that has occurred in the last quarter of a century. Modern-day politicians, at least Donald Trump, can survive many more scandals than they could during the era of Kirk Fordice. Fordice was a blunt spoken, in-your-face politician, and was immensely popular, especially among a growing Republican base of voters who had revered him as the party’s first governor of Mississippi since the 1800s. For much of his gubernatorial tenure, hints of Fordice’s marital infidelity had been ignored, especially by the Christian right that embraced him. But by the time of that fateful State of the State speech as the evidence piled up of Fordice’s indiscretion, no one was willing to stand up for him on that quiet January day in the ornate chamber of the Mississippi House as he spoke uninterrupted. It should be noted that Fordice’s combustible tendencies, often berating both his allies and his enemies, might have contributed to those attending the State of the State not displaying any support for the governor. The president also has a penchant for exploding in anger at those loyal to him and those who are not. In short, the president has said and done things that would have doomed politicians in a past era – a not too distant era, such as the era when Fordice served as governor of Mississippi. Trump, on the other hand, remains popular among Republicans. For instance, as Trump recently delivered the longest State of the Union speech in modern American history, he was repeatedly interrupted by thunderous applause by his Republican supporters. True, Democrats sat quietly and a few heckled him, as has also occurred in recent years with Republican lawmakers when past Democratic presidents delivered their State of Union addresses. Many other Democrats simply did not attend Trump’s speech. Still, the support of loyal Republicans, both politicians and non-politicians, to Trump has not wavered and did not as he delivered his State of the Union address. The president’s missteps or misdeeds are far too many to count. They include [multiple claims of sexual misconduct](https://www.politico.com/news/2023/05/09/trump-e-jean-carroll-trial-verdict-00096009), including bragging of [sexually assaulting women](https://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2016-37595321), being found guilty by a civil jury by a preponderance of the evidence of sexually assaulting a woman, being accused of sexual assault by countless others. He infamously [belittled the late Sen. John McCain for serving as a prisoner of war after his airplane was shot down in Vietnam](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/__trashed-2). Trump was forced [to close his charity endeavors](https://www.npr.org/2018/12/18/677778958/trump-foundation-to-dissolve-amid-new-york-ags-investigation) after they were found to be a scam. The list goes on and on. There is [evidence](https://www.politico.com/news/2024/05/30/donald-trump-guilty-hush-money-trial-00160460) that Trump was sleeping with a porn star. Still, nowhere is the support for the president stronger than right here in Mississippi among many Republican politicians and non-politicians. It is of note that right here in the heart of the Bible Belt not that many years ago people were so troubled by the conduct of a Mississippi governor that they sat quietly as he delivered his State of the State speech. ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/26172332/AP96111202453-e1772148308434.jpg) Mississippi Gov. Kirk Fordice’s Jeep Grand Cherokee is shown to the public Tuesday, Nov. 12, 1996, at the Mississippi Highway Patrol Headquarters in Jackson, Miss. The State Highway Patrol had refused access to the sport utility vehicle that Fordice was driving when he crashed off a north Mississippi Interstate one week earlier. The 62-year-old governor, who remained in intensive care days later, said he did not remember anything of the accident. Credit: AP Photo/Dan Loh And what did poor Kirk Fordice do to deserve their disdain? The 60-something Fordice ended up leaving his wife, not for a younger woman, but for a woman who had been his high school sweetheart. Granted, that is nothing to be proud of, but compared to what is tolerated nowadays by Mississippians, especially by Mississippi politicians, Fordice’s scandal was fairly tame stuff. [![Profile picture of Bobby Harrison](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/17090554/bobbyharrison-profile.jpg)](https://mississippitoday.org/author/bharrison/) Ideas Editor Bobby Harrison is Mississippi Today’s Ideas Editor, where he writes a weekly column on state politics and curates the Ideas section featuring guest essays on Mississippi’s most pressing challenges and opportunities. A lifelong Mississippian, Bobby believes in highlighting the state’s strengths while confronting its weaknesses, with the goal of making Mississippi a better place for all who live here. His decades-long career includes serving as sports editor, news editor, and capitol bureau chief at the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal and covering every major state political issue since the mid-1990s. A past Bill Minor Award recipient, Bobby has been recognized for news, commentary, and sports reporting, and twice named Advocate of the Year by the North Mississippi Special Needs Arc. [![Creative Commons License](https://mississippitoday.org/wp-content/plugins/republication-tracker-tool/assets/img/cc-by-nd-4.0.png)](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/) Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
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