Politics

Nikki Haley Blames Rhetoric Like Trump’s For The Charleston Shooting

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Alex Pfeiffer White House Correspondent
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South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said in an interview Thursday that rhetoric like Donald Trump’s is dangerous as she believes it causes incidents such as the Charleston church shooting.

“I know what that rhetoric can do. I saw it happen,” Haley told the Associated Press. She said in the interview that she believes divisive rhetoric drove Dylann Roof to kill nine black churchgoers last summer. Roof released a manifesto in which he detailed his racist intentions. He claimed he was “awakened” by the the Trayvon Martin case.

Haley in the interview went on to say that she doesn’t believe Trump’s supporters are racist.

“That’s a different kind of anger. They’re upset with Washington, D.C. They’re upset nothing’s got done,” Haley told the AP. “The way he communicates that, I wish were different.”

The South Carolina governor has yet to endorse Trump and has come out strongly against him throughout the election. She previously said it would be “scary” if he won the Republican nomination.