NIKKI 2020:

As South Carolina approaches the one-year anniversary of a racially motivate massacre at a Charleston church, Gov. Nikki Haley (R) said Thursday that her party's likely presidential nominee, Donald Trump, needs to change his divisive rhetoric.

"I know what that rhetoric can do," Haley told the Associated Press on Thursday. "I saw it happen."

On a Wednesday evening last June, 21-year-old Dylann Roof attended a prayer service at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in downtown Charleston. Police say he opened fire, gunning down nine churchgoers. Roof later claimed he was trying to start a race war. He has been charged with more than 30 federal counts, including committing a hate crime.

Roof had proudly celebrated the Confederacy, according to his online postings, and the shooting quickly sparked a national discussion about the Confederate flag, which at that time was still flying on the grounds of the South Carolina state capitol. Soon after the shooting, the state legislature voted to remove the flag. [...]

[H]aley said Trump has a responsibility to use a civil, respectful tone, the AP reported.

"The way he communicates that, I wish were different," Haley said.

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