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Kentucky's John Calipari: Confederate flag 'offends,' should be removed

Robert Deutsch / US Presswire

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari believes Confederate flags should be taken down.

During a Southeastern Conference coaches conference call Monday, Calipari said that ''obviously, it offends a portion of our society, so people are deciding to take them down. That's how I feel. It may offend, so I'd say do it.''

Calipari asked a reporter if Kentucky uses the flag - it doesn't. He was told that a statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis stands inside the state capitol in Frankfort. Statues of two other leaders stand in downtown Lexington.

The seventh-year coach deferred to the ''powers that be'' on that and added, ''I'm not running for public office. ... I was thinking about running for president, but was discouraged from that.''

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