That time Hillary Clinton used a confederate flag on a campaign button

With all of the focus on the Black Lives Matter movement these days, it's important to look back on how the presumptive Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, handled race issues in recent years. One glaring situation runs at odds with Clinton's current BLM support and opposition to the Confederate flag; mainly, her use of the flag on a 2008 campaign button. 

A June 2015 eBay auction, which has since been removed from the website, offered up that embarrassing item for the Hillary Clinton campaign: the political button (pictured above) from her 2008 run that featured the confederate flag.

As public sentiment rises against the display of the confederate flag after the racially-motivated church shootings in Charleston, politicians have been quick to distance themselves from the flag. Dylann Roof, the Charleston shooter, has been seen in photos displaying the confederate flag, while he is seen burning the American flag in others.

Clinton was quoted in 2007 saying the flag should be removed from the South Carolina Statehouse grounds, where it flies in accordance with state law. However, a year later, a campaign button stating "Arkansas Travlers In Support of Hillary Clinton for President - South Carolina 2008" was produced and distributed. The "Arkansas Travelers" are a political group that supports various candidates.

According to the eBay auction that offered it for sale, the makers of the button shortened the word "Travlers" to save space. It is unclear if the button was official campaign paraphernalia, but it is unlikely. However, there is no record of the Clinton campaign condemning the use of the confederate flag. It appears the auction was removed after eBay banned the sale of items featuring the confederate flag.

Clinton, however, has a long history of working with the Arkansas Travelers. An October 2007 story by CBS News and the Associated Press stated the relationship, as the group traveled to Iowa to assist Hillary's presidential campaign. "Longtime friends of the Clintons, the Arkansas Travelers helped introduce their relatively unknown governor in 1992 to the country and toured the nation again on his behalf when he won re-election to the White House in 1996," the article states.

Hillary Clinton has yet to comment on the button.