There's been "beef" between Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith and Democratic challenger Scott Colom for weeks.
That is, a campaign ad about the protein that went viral weeks before the Mississippi U.S. Senate race became a bitterly tight contest.
Colom leads Hyde-Smith by less than 2,000 ballots (49.1% to 48.8%), with 96% of the votes counted as of 10 a.m. ET on Nov. 6, according to the Associated Press.
After the Election Day blue tsunami stunningly capsized Republican control of Congress, the Mississippi race's results will be crucial for determining the Democratic majority in the Senate.
In October, Colom's campaign released an ad based on a clip of Hyde-Smith from a February television interview. In it, she responds to concerns about rising beef
prices by saying Mississippians "have so many proteins to choose from."
The ad features several people bewildered by Hyde-Smith's assertion to "pick another protein." Those in the ad conclude the same way: "I'd rather pick another senator instead."
Here's what to know about the viral ad.
'Pick another protein' ad getting attention even after ballots were cast
The ad opens with a clip of Hyde-Smith from a February WLOX News interview.
During the interview, an anchor, noting that the price of beef was continuing to rise, asked, "What are Republicans doing to get this cost of living under control?" Hyde-Smith gave a lengthy answer, in part, citing tax reductions from the Big Beautiful Bill.
"It is on everybody's mind, you know it certainly is me at my house," she said at one point. "And you know you have so many proteins to choose from, and all commodities go through peaks and valleys."
Colom's ad features a cut of Hyde-Smith's interview showing the anchor mentioning beef and the senator saying, "you have so many proteins to choose from."
It then switches to several people who each say, "Pick another protein? I'd rather pick another senator instead." The final clip shows Colom chuckling, repeating, "Pick another senator instead."
Colom's X account posted the clip on Oct. 13. As of Nov. 6, the post has more than 16 million views, with several million alone from the days after the Nov. 3 election.
"They're going to study this ad for centuries," another X user posted, which alone has more than six million views to date.
In an Oct. 25 interview on WLOX, Hyde-Smith was asked about the viral ad.
"Thank goodness when mothers want to feed their families, when you go out shopping, there (are) proteins – you want to feed meat – there are some cheaper prices. And that's what that statement was about," she said.
See live results of Mississippi U.S. Senate election
When will we get results of Mississippi Senate election?
While the margin between Colom and Hyde-Smith is razor-thin, experts say we may not know the final results for days or even weeks.
In Mississippi, officials can count mail-in ballots for an additional five days after the election if they were postmarked by Election Day.
County clerks also have 10 days to certify the election results, the Mississippi Secretary of State's office confirmed to the Clarion-Ledger, part of the USA TODAY Network.
The candidate who falls behind could also go to court and ask for a recount, further slowing things down, David Becker, a former DOJ voting rights lawyer who runs the Center for Election Innovation & Research, told reporters Nov. 4, according to previous USA TODAY reporting.
Contributing: Aysha Bagchi, USA TODAY
Melina Khan is a national trending reporter for USA TODAY. Keep up with her on Instagram @bymelinakhan and TikTok @melina.khan2.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: The beef behind a viral Mississippi Senate ad
