Goldman Sachs employees complained to executives about former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley’s appearance at the firm’s office after comments she made about the Confederate flag sparked outrage.
Several employees, including members of the firm’s Black Network, reached out to senior staff urging them to call off the event, which is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, according to Bloomberg News. Goldman Sachs President John Waldron will interview her as a part of their “Talks at GS” series.
Haley has faced heat recently for comments she made on The Glenn Beck Program, hosted by Glenn Beck. She was addressing the aftermath of when Dylann Roof opened fire and killed nine at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in June 2015. Roof posed for photos with the Confederate flag prior to the attack.
“Here is this guy who comes out with his manifesto, holding the Confederate flag, and had just hijacked everything that people thought of,” she said on the podcast. “We don’t have hateful people in South Carolina. There’s always the small minority who are always going to be there, but people saw it as service, sacrifice, and heritage. But once he did that, there was no way to overcome it.”
The video of her comments went viral when Media Matters for America posted the video and captioned it, “Nikki Haley says the Confederate flag was about ‘service, and sacrifice, and heritage’ until Dylann Roof ‘hijacked’ it.” The description fails to note that Haley didn’t say she felt that way, rather she was noting that others in South Carolina do.
In response to the backlash from Goldman Sachs employees, they sent an email to those who expressed concerns noting that they intend to bring up the issue.
“We are committed to using the Talks at GS platform to directly explore the views of our guests, particularly on difficult topics,” the email read, according to Bloomberg. “John Waldron will ask Ambassador Haley to address her recent comments on the Confederate flag and will share the sentiments of you and others in our community.“
1/2 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 hate.That’s why it was such a difficult issue for so long.
— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) December 8, 2019
Since the comments went viral, she has defended herself, saying, “Sad that the outrage media has gone crazy about my recent [interview] 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 [symbolizing] hate. That’s why it was such a difficult issue for so long.”
