Posted on 07/01/2015 12:03:03 PM PDT by TNMOUTH
After sidestepping questions about the issue over the weekend, Gov. Scott Walker on Monday said he supports South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley's call to remove the Confederate flag from the state Capitol.
"I am glad @nikkihaley is calling for the Confederate flag to come down. I support her decision - SKW," Walker tweeted from his political account shortly after Haley called for the flag to be taken down.
The push to remove the flag comes in the wake of the racially-motivated killing of nine black worshippers in a historic Charleston church last week.
Dylann Roof, a white 21-year-old man, has said he hoped the shooting would spark a race war, CNN reported.
In the days after the shooting, politicians across the political spectrum, from President Barack Obama to his former opponent Mitt Romney, called for the flag to be taken down, arguing that a symbol of segregation has no place at the statehouse.
Walker, in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, condemned the shooting as "racist" and "evil." But talking to reporters, he avoided weighing in on the debate over the flag and what it represents.
"I think they're going to have a good healthy debate and should have that debate in South Carolina amongst officials at the state level," Walker said, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "I just think before I or anyone else weighs in on anything to do with policy, whether it's this or any other policy decisions, we should honor the dead and the families by allowing them to bury their loved ones. And then you could perfectly ask me that question at some point in the next week or two when that's done."
At the political event, Walker also wouldn't say whether he sees the Confederate flag as a symbol of racism.
The liberal group One Wisconsin Now criticized Walker's initial response, accusing the governor of being too focused on his likely presidential campaign to take a stand.
“There’s no denying the racism and oppression represented by the Confederate flag and there’s no defense for its display in public, on public property," said OWN executive director Scot Ross. "It is appalling that Scott Walker is so blinded by his political ambition he’s willing to abide the flying of a flag that symbolizes racism, hatred and oppression."
Walker was one of several 2016 contenders to give carefully worded answers to questions about the flag over the weekend.
Both former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Sen. Marco Rubio, also of Florida, alluded to "making the right choice," but neither said what that choice should be. However, Bush said in a statement that his position on how to address the flag is clear.
As governor, Bush had the flag taken down from Florida's Capitol in 2001.
"In Florida we acted, moving the flag from the state grounds to a museum where it belonged," Bush said in a statement. "This is obviously a very sensitive time in South Carolina and our prayers are with the families, the AME church community and the entire state. Following a period of mourning there will rightly be a discussion among leaders in the state about how South Carolina should move forward, and I'm confident they will do the right thing."
Sen. Lindsey Graham, also a Republican presidential candidate, joined Haley in calling for the flag's removal on Monday.
For the flag to be taken down, two-thirds of the state Legislature must vote to approve it.
Haley noted Monday the decision would not affect people who wish to fly the flag on their own property.
Sad if true.
ø stating his aversion to it is the best form of advertising The Stars and Bars has ever had.
touche.....took me just a second.....
So many of these politicians are so machiavellian. Determine which way the crowd is going then jump in front and yell “Follow me!”.
This modern sense of the Confederate Battle Flag has transcended whatever it might have seemed to some before.
Now it means DEFIANCE!
You know what ø can do with his damned decrees?...
Does he know that Pickney, one of the 9 killed by that nut job in Charleston, actually voted to put the Confederate flag where it is flying?
It was a compromise where the alternative was to leave the flag flying over the capitol. Given that choice which way did you expect him to vote?
a white star on a white field.
BUMP!!!!!
Exactly the way he did. It was a compromise and legal.
God ... please continue to bless America even if her appointed judges have taken steps to make a once Godly nation an officially un-Godly one.
Another wimp.
That would have been the intelligent answer. Walker disappoints again.
Amen, Finny! Wow! That’s neat about you’re being 5th generation Californian. That has got to be tough living in a predominately liberal state. Seems like you have hung on tenaciously to your principles. God Bless You for being a voice of Godliness.
My new list has only one Presidential entry and one VP entry
Cruz / Jindal
Not to mention the losers he associates with...first the worthless beotch Liz Mair some while ago (had to drop her like a tight prom dress once her sloppy mouth got found out) and just a couple days ago the Clintonesque creep Brad Dayspring who traffics in vile broadsides against conservatives...yes, another of those guys who hates Ted Cruz more than he does Barak Homobama.
Walker looks good but he associates with the worst. I don’t get it...
Ted is the last one standing
If you take a county-by-county look at the election map, you see that California is VERY MUCH a red state except for the blue counties mostly along the coast (and not all of them, at that).
God bless, c-joy!
It’s non of Scott Walker’s damn business until he becomes a South Carolina State citizen. Shut your mouth, Gov. Walker.
2016 will mark another election in which once again FREPERS oppose all,every and each GOP candidates.
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