DECEMBER 6, 2019 BY MICHAEL STONE
Dishonesty in service of white supremacy and slavery: A dishonest Nikki Haley claims the Confederate flag was a symbol of “service, sacrifice, and heritage,” until Dylann Roof “hijacked” it.
Haley, Trump’s Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and the former governor of South Carolina, defended the Confederate flag as a symbol of “service, sacrifice, and heritage,” while speaking with conservative Glenn Beck.
Appearing on Beck’s Blaze TV Haley claimed that the Confederate flag was not a symbol of racism until Dylann Roof went on a shooting spree motivated by racial hatred at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in South Carolina in 2015.
Immediately after the domestic terrorist attack inspired by the kind of white Christian nationalism embraced by President Trump, a photo was released of Roof holding the Confederate flag. Discussing the terrorist attack with Beck, Haley said:
South Carolina fell to her knees when this happened. This is one of the oldest African-American churches. These twelve people were amazing people, they love their church, they love their family, they love their community.”
And here is this guy that comes out with this manifesto, holding the Confederate flag, and had just hijacked everything that people thought of…
We don’t have hateful people in South Carolina. There’s always the small minority that’s always gonna be there, but, you know, people saw it (the Confederate Flag) as service, and sacrifice, and heritage, but once he did that there was no way to overcome it, and the national media came in in droves.
They wanted to define what happened. They wanted to make this about racism, they wanted to make it about gun control, they wanted to make it about death penalty, and I really pushed off the national media and said there will be a time and place where we talk about this, but it is not now, we will get through the funerals, we’re gonna respect them, and then we will have that conversation.
And we had a really tough few weeks of debate, but we didn’t have riots we had vigils. We didn’t have protests, we had hugs, and the people of South Carolina stepped up and showed the world what it looks like to show grace and strength in the eyes of tragedy.
Nikki Haley says the Confederate flag was about “service, and sacrifice, and heritage” until Dylan Roof “hijacked” it6,19512:26 PM – Dec 6, 2019Twitter Ads info and privacy14.4K people are talking about this
Haley is wrong. The Confederate flag was never about “service, sacrifice, and heritage.” The Confederate flag was always about treason, racism, and a heritage of hate.
As one might imagine, reasonable people immediately rejected Haley’s dishonest claim. The following is a sample of reactions via Twitter:
(((DeanObeidallah)))✔@DeanObeidallah
This is how a deadly history of white supremacy is white washed by the GOP: Nikki Haley says Dylan Roof “hijacked” the Confederate flag, which before him simply represented “service, and sacrifice, and heritage”423:17 PM – Dec 6, 2019Twitter Ads info and privacy26 people are talking about this
Nikki Haley says the Confederate flag was always about, “service, sacrifice, and heritage.”
She says there was, “never any hateful people in South Carolina,” before Dylan Roof.
Here are some images from a CONFEDERATE FLAG rally in South Carolina in 2015:
20K1:52 PM – Dec 6, 2019Twitter Ads info and privacy7,731 people are talking about this
BrooklynDad_Defiant!@mmpadellan
I don’t see how anyone is shocked that Nikki Haley is trying to white wash the Confederate flag.
She JUST said trump is a “truthful” person a few weeks ago.
Shes just leaning in real hard for the White Supremacist vote. https://twitter.com/JasonSCampbell/status/1203002830329712641 …Jason Campbell@JasonSCampbellNikki Haley says the Confederate flag was about “service, and sacrifice, and heritage” until Dylan Roof “hijacked” it4,2522:44 PM – Dec 6, 2019Twitter Ads info and privacy1,385 people are talking about this
Obscene. Ahistorical. It’s the battle flag of the fight to preserve slavery. The confederate flag is about racism, oppression, and cruelty. It should be draped on the coffin of Nikki Haley’s political career. Thanks to this statement alone she has no future in national office. https://twitter.com/JasonSCampbell/status/1203002830329712641 …Jason Campbell@JasonSCampbellNikki Haley says the Confederate flag was about “service, and sacrifice, and heritage” until Dylan Roof “hijacked” it4,8232:50 PM – Dec 6, 2019Twitter Ads info and privacy1,595 people are talking about this
A reminder that Nikki Haley is just as despicable as every other Republican, and coverage of her should always reflect that. https://twitter.com/JasonSCampbell/status/1203002830329712641 …Jason Campbell@JasonSCampbellNikki Haley says the Confederate flag was about “service, and sacrifice, and heritage” until Dylan Roof “hijacked” it2512:34 PM – Dec 6, 2019Twitter Ads info and privacy56 people are talking about this
Haley is no stranger to making dishonest claims while defending racism and white supremacy. Last month Haley made the absurd claim that President Donald Trump is competent and “always truthful,” despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
Bottom line: Defending treason, racism, and a heritage of hate, a dishonest Nikki Haley claims the Confederate flag was always a symbol of “service, sacrifice, and heritage.”
