SC governor expected to call for removal of Confederate flag
South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley is expected to call for the removal of the Confederate flag from the state capitol grounds at a Monday afternoon press conference.
The Post and Courier reported Monday that Haley would call for the flag to come down just days after the killing of nine African-Americans in a Charleston, S.C., church last week. It also reported that state lawmakers are working on legislation that could expedite the process.
{mosads}Separately, Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) predicted Haley would call for the flag’s removal.
“I think she is. I really hope she is,” Clyburn told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell in response to a question about whether Haley was shifting her position.
“That is a flag of rebellion,” Clyburn added.
The Confederate flag was originally hung above the State House in 1962, but moved outside to the Confederate soldier’s monument in 2000.
The White House on Monday reiterated President Obama’s belief the flag should come down but said the decision is up to South Carolina’s government.
There have been growing calls for the flag’s removal since last week’s violence.
The man accused of killing the nine people in Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church allegedly hoped to start a race war with the shootings. He has been photographed with the Confederate flag and with a car with Confederate flag license plates.
Republican 2012 presidential nominee Mitt Romney called for the flag’s removal over the weekend.
“Take down the Confederate Flag at the SC Capitol,” Romney tweeted. “To many, it is a symbol of racial hatred. Remove it now to honor Charleston victims.”
Republican presidential contender Jeb Bush suggested South Carolina should follow the example he set as governor of Florida, in Facebook post over the weekend.
“My position on how to address the Confederate flag is clear,” Bush said. “In Florida, we acted, moving the flag from the state grounds to a museum where it belonged.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a candidate for president who just last week defended his home state’s use of the Confederate flag, also will call for it to be removed, according to a source familiar with his decision.
Clyburn said removing the flag would help the state heal after last week’s violence.
“I really believe that a lot of legislators in South Carolina, a lot of citizens in South Carolina, are growing to the point where we now see that the time has come for us to bring the state together,” Clyburn said. “And one of the best ways we can do that is to take that flag off of the state house grounds, put it in the Confederate Relic Room, which is a part of the South Carolina State Museum, and let’s honor Confederate soldiers and their descendants, the sons of Confederate veterans, the daughters of the confederacy, let’s honor them on Confederate Memorial Day, which, if my memory serves, is May 10thevery year.
“This whole notion that the Confederate battle flag was some flag that all of these people lost their lives under, they ought to stop telling that myth,” Clyburn said. “That is absolutely not true.”
Clyburn said Haley has been talking with South Carolina politicians about the issue, and he said he expected to talk to the governor again later on Monday.
South Carolina lawmakers have previously rejected the idea of removing the flag but might be more open to the possibility following last week’s shooting.
Two-thirds of the state’s lawmakers would be required to back the plan.
Graham defended his state’s use of the flag last week.
“The flag represents to some people a civil war, and that was the symbol of one side. To others, it’s a racist symbol, and it’s been used by people, it’s been used in a racist way,” Graham told CNN.
“I think that’s a question for South Carolina, and the last thing they need is people from outside the state coming in and dictating how they should resolve the issue,” Cruz said during a campaign stop in Iowa.
— This story was updated at 1:49 p.m.
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