South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley defended the Confederate flag on statehouse grounds and said the CEOs she talks to while recruiting for jobs have never mentioned it.
Haley’s Democratic challenger for the upcoming elections, Vincent Sheheen, said during a Tuesday debate that the flag should be removed.
Calling the subject a “sensitive issue,” Haley answered, “What I can tell you is over the last three and a half years, I spent a lot of my days on the phones with CEOs and recruiting jobs to this state. I can honestly say I have not had one conversation with a single CEO about the Confederate flag."
In discussing the state’s past race issues, Haley said, "We really kind of fixed all that when you elected the first Indian-American female governor. When we appointed the first African-American U.S. senator, that sent a huge message."
“I believe that it’s time that we retire the Confederate flag to a place of respect, where the history of this great state can be told and that we all rally together under a flag that unites us all, the American flag, that looks toward the future and not the past,” Sheheen said during the debate.
Haley’s words struck a chord with some people, who went online to protest.
Others offered their support to the governor.
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