Ben Carson said Tuesday that he has no problem with people flying the Confederate flag — as long as they do it on private property.
“As a general principle, people can do whatever they want on their private property — that’s one of the basic tenets of freedom in America,” Carson said in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. “I am not opposed to anybody doing whatever they want to do on their private property.”
The retired neurosurgeon said Monday NASCAR fans should be free to fly the Confederate Flag as long as it’s on private property. He was visiting a camp for disabled children partly funded by Richard Petty, who called preoccupation with the flag “a passing fancy.”
Carson previously shared his thoughts on the Confederate Flag with CNN when South Carolina lawmakers were debating removing the divisive symbol from capitol grounds following the Charleston shooting.
Carson previously told CNN — which the national debate over the flag was raging and it was removed from the South Carolina state Capital — that one of his Maryland neighbors was coaxed into taking down a Confederate flag.
He said that when he moved to a new home in rural Maryland, a neighbor put up a Confederate flag.
“I guess as a message to us,” Carson said.
The other neighbors responded by flying American flags, which Carson believes “shamed” the neighbor into taking down the Confederate one, he said.