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Latest on church shooting: Lieutenant governor talks flag

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, center, calls for legislators to remove the Confederate flag from the Statehouse grounds during a news conference in the South Carolina State House in Columbia, S.C., Monday, June 22, 2015. Those surrounding her as she spoke included state legislators of both parties. (Tim Dominick/The State via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT ALL LOCAL MEDIA OUT, (TV, ONLINE, PRINT) South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, center, calls for legislators to remove the Confederate flag from the Statehouse grounds during a news conference in the South Carolina State House in Columbia, S.C., Monday, June 22, 2015. Those surrounding her as she spoke included state legislators of both parties. (Tim Dominick/The State via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT ALL LOCAL MEDIA OUT, (TV, ONLINE, PRINT)

By Associated Press June 23, 2015 1 min read

9:45 a.m.

South Carolina’s second-highest ranking elected official is urging state lawmakers to open debate about the Confederate flag.

Republican Lt. Gov. Henry McMaster said on his official Facebook page Tuesday that “the time has come to consider an appropriate location for the Confederate flag.”

McMaster’s comments come a day after his fellow Republican, Gov. Nikki Haley, called on legislators to vote to remove the flag from the Statehouse grounds in Columbia.

McMaster chaired the state’s Republican Party in 2000 when a compromise was reached to move the flag from atop the Capitol dome to a Confederate monument. During his failed 2010 gubernatorial bid, the former U.S. attorney and state attorney general said he considered the issue resolved.