SC gov: Confederate flag fight not about me

Gov. Nikki Haley (R) brushed aside the suggestion that her role in convincing legislators to take down the Confederate flag on the grounds of the South Carolina Statehouse could propel her to personal political gain.

{mosads}“If I do my job right, that means I need to work harder, the people will talk about the lives of those nine people,” she said Friday on NBC’s “Today,” after host Matt Lauer read aloud tweets that suggested the response could make her a leading GOP vice presidential candidate.

“I want people to remember what today feels like and know that anything is possible with us, so I’ll keep my focus on that.”

She called on Americans and South Carolinians to remember the victims of the tragic shooting in a historically black church that prompted a strong backlash against the Confederate flag. The accused shooter posed with the flag and reportedly told police he wanted to start a race war.

Haley signed the bill calling for the removal of the flag from the Capitol grounds on Thursday, and it will be lowered permanently on Friday. Her response to the tragedy and her call for the flag to come down thrust her into the national political spotlight and earned her national praise.

She repeatedly lauded the victims in the short interview and said the Statehouse “belongs to everyone” and shouldn’t make anyone uncomfortable.