GOP candidates and the Confederate flag

Mary Bruno

Mary Bruno Jun 27, 2025

Feb 6, 2018

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                <h1>GOP candidates and the Confederate flag</h1>
                <h2><p>The battle flag that, despite the recent massacre in Charleston, is still flapping — at full staff — on the grounds of South Carolina's Capitol has put Republican presidential candidates in an awkward spot. How do they honor the dead without torpedoing their chances in the S. Carolina primary, where</p></h2>
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               <p>By <a href="/author/mary-bruno-crosscut-com/">Mary Bruno</a></p> 
              <p><time datetime="2025-02-04T05:00:00-08:00">Feb 6, 2018</time></p>
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            <figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://dev.cascadepbs.org/content/images/sites/default/files/images/article/gallery/jeb-rns-catholic-gopbthumb-e1429604494735.jpg" class="kg-image" alt="RNS-CATHOLIC-GOP" loading="lazy" width="300" height="208"></figure><p>The battle flag that, despite the recent massacre in Charleston, is still flapping — at full staff — on the grounds of South Carolina's Capitol has put Republican presidential candidates in an awkward spot. How do they honor the dead without torpedoing their chances in the S. Carolina primary, where legions of conservative white voters worship the flag as part of their heritage? <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/22/us/politics/republicans-tread-carefully-in-criticism-of-confederate-flag.html?wpmm=1&wpisrc=nl_wonk&_r=1&ref=dev.cascadepbs.org"><em>The New York Times</em></a> reviews the history of the Confederate flag debate and rounds up candidate comments — largely anodyne variations on "we know South Carolina will do the right thing."</p><p>Jeb Bush (in a Saturday statement) reminded us that as Florida’s governor he moved the Confederate flag fom the state Capitol to “to a museum where it belonged.” Florida Senator Marco Rubio was confident that S. Carolina would “make the right choice for the people of South Carolina.” Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is taking a pass on all flag questions until the nine victims of Wednesday's shooting are buried.</p>
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The battle flag that, despite the recent massacre in Charleston, is still flapping — at full staff — on the grounds of South Carolina's Capitol has put Republican presidential candidates in an awkward spot. How do they honor the dead without torpedoing their chances in the S. Carolina primary, where legions of conservative white voters worship the flag as part of their heritage? The New York Times reviews the history of the Confederate flag debate and rounds up candidate comments — largely anodyne variations on "we know South Carolina will do the right thing."

Jeb Bush (in a Saturday statement) reminded us that as Florida’s governor he moved the Confederate flag fom the state Capitol to “to a museum where it belonged.” Florida Senator Marco Rubio was confident that S. Carolina would “make the right choice for the people of South Carolina.” Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is taking a pass on all flag questions until the nine victims of Wednesday's shooting are buried.

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By Mary Bruno

Mary was Crosscut's Editor-in-Chief and Interim Publisher. In more than 25 years as a journalist, she has worked as a writer, editor and editorial director for a variety of print and web publications,