Gov Haley: Confederate Flag ‘Never Should Have Been There’

Friday on CNN, Gov. Nikki Haley (R-SC) said the Confederate flag, which has now been removed from the grounds of the statehouse, caused political battles and personal pain since it went up and declared, “It just never should have been there.”

“It’s a true new day in South Carolina,” she said. “When I came into office, to have a two thirds vote threshold was a huge one. It’s not a Republican/Democrat, white/black, there hadn’t been a billed filed to bring it down since 2007. There was so much of a divide and so much hurt in the compromise of 2000, that no one wanted to talk about it. So it was almost like people just assumed it was going to be there.”

When host Don Lemon asked, “This flag went up in 1962, correct? Do you think it was sort of a poke in the eye to the civil rights movement?”

Haley answered, “You know, I’m not going to try to figure out why people did what they did. I think the more important part is that it just never should have been there. I think that even when it was on the grounds of the statehouse, it was right in front. These grounds are a place that everybody should feel a part of. These grounds are a place that belong to the people of South Carolina. What I realize now more than ever is people were driving by and they felt hurt and pain. No one should feel pain. You know, we can have our disagreements and we can have our policy back and forth, but no one should feel pain something, not over a symbol.”