Nikki Haley: 'Women don't care about contraception'

Republican South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley on Tuesday said that the Obama administration had made a mistake by mandating that health insurance cover birth control because "women don't care about contraception."

During an appearance on ABC's The View, co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck asked Haley how conservatives could make the case that Republicans represent the interest of women.

"All of my policy is not based on a label," Haley remarked. "It's based on what I've lived and what I know: Women don't care about contraception. They care about jobs and the economy and raising their families and all of those things."

"We care about contraception too," co-host Joy Behar interrupted.

"But that's not the only thing they care about," Haley replied, slightly revising her earlier assertion. "The media wants to talk about contraception. ... While we care about contraception, let's be clear. All we're saying is we don't want government to mandate when we have to have it and when we don't. We want to be able to make that decision."

Co-host Barbara Walters also wanted to know why Haley had not advocated taking down the Confederate flag that flies on South Carolina's Statehouse grounds -- which to many is a symbol of racism -- since the governor had experienced discrimination based on her Indian heritage.

"You know, the flag went through a bitter compromise debate," Haley explained. "They brought it off the top of the Statehouse. Now, it's on the grounds along with an African-American monument as part of history. But I will tell you, I want South Carolina to be defined that they just elected a 38-year-old Indian-American governor. That is South Carolina."

Haley in 2010 rejected calls from the NAACP to remove the flag.

"We don't expect people from outside of the state to understand that dynamic, but revisiting that issue is not part of the governor's agenda," Haley spokesperson Rob Godfrey said.

Watch the video below from ABC's The View, broadcast on April 3, 2012.

(H/T: Mediaite)