The South Carolina Republican Gubernatorial Primary Makes You Wonder What Century We’re Living In

The South Carolina gubernatorial primary is starting to sound a lot like it’s taking place 70 years in the past. To recap: 

• Gov. Henry McMaster refused to leave his all-white country club.
• Catherine Templeton called herself a “proud daughter of the Confederacy.”

And just last night, Catherine Templeton used her speech at Bob Jones University to say that slaveowners didn’t need the federal government telling them how to live:

“I think it’s important to note that my family didn’t fight because we had slaves. My family fought because the federal government was trying to tell us how to live…We didn’t need them to tell us how to live way back then, and we don’t need them to tell us how to live today.”

This begs the question, does she believe slaveowners should have maintained their right to continue owning slaves?

“Catherine Templeton’s latest comments make you feel like you’ve travelled back in time,” said DGA Deputy Press Secretary Alex Japko. “The question now is does Catherine Templeton believe slaveowners should have kept their right to own slaves?”