Nikki Haley punches back at 'outrage media' for twisting Confederate flag comments

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) punched back against the "outrage media" on Sunday for contorting recent comments she made about the Confederate flag.

"Sad that the outrage media has gone crazy about my recent intv with Glenn Beck. What I said was accurate. Many in South Carolina did see the confederate flag as symbolizing heritage, and many others saw it as symbolling [sic] hate.That's why it was such a difficult issue for so long," Haley said.

In a follow-up tweet, she added, "I am proud of our state for coming together to remove the flag from our statehouse. If the outrage peddlers in the liberal media are really interested in my views on the flag, instead of distorting them, they should read the first 2 chapters of my book."

A Media Matters writer ignited a firestorm of controversy against Haley on Friday when he tweeted an extremely misleading claim about a recent interview between Haley and Glenn Beck. The writer claimed that Haley said the Confederate flag symbolized "service, and sacrifice, and heritage" before it was "hijacked" by a gunman who opened fire inside a Charleston church in 2015.

However, Haley did not say that; in fact, she said that "people saw it," referring to the Confederate flag, as a symbol of service, sacrifice, and heritage — which is true — but did not say that she believed those things about the Confederate flag.

Still, the mainstream media ran with the dishonest framing, forcing some outlets, like Axios, to retract its stories.

Before directly responding to the controversy Sunday, Haley reminded her critics that she was responsible for the removal of the Confederate flag from the South Carolina capitol in 2015 — a decision that reflects her actual views on the Confederate flag.

Haley tweeted, "2015 was a painful time for our state. The pain was and is still real. Below was my call for the removal of the Confederate flag & I stand by it. I continue to be proud of the people of SC and how we turned the hate of a killer into the love for each other."