Minutes before South Carolina senators overwhelmingly voted Wednesday to override Gov. Nikki Haley’s veto of nearly half a million in funding for rape crisis centers, Sen. Joel Lourie (D-Richland) demanded the governor apologize for referring to sexual assault victims as “special interests” and a “distraction.”
Gov. Haley drew national criticism last week after saying the $453,000 designated for South Carolina’s 15 rape crisis centers represents a “distraction” to the state’s public health priorities. After representatives unanimously voted on Tuesday to overrde the veto, the governor kept digging by referring to rape victims as “special interests” in a post on Facebook.
“Governor, I hope you’re listening because you need to spend a little less time on Facebook and spend a little more time on being a stateswoman and a governor,” said Lourie, demanding that Haley issue an apology for the “embarrassing” comments:
For her part, Gov. Haley has been much less chatty on Facebook today, only noting whether a veto was overridden or sustained instead of offering up a comment on each one.
