Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz thinks it ought to be up to South Carolinians whether the Confederate battle flag should continue to form part of a state house memorial in Columbia; the Texas senator noted in an interview with The Washington Post that he understood "both sides" of the debate.

In the wake of the last week's shooting at a historic black church in Charleston, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott had called for the banner to be removed.

However, Cruz pointed to the complexity of the issue.

"I understand the passions that this debate evokes on both sides. (Some) see a history of racial oppression and a history of slavery, which is the original sin of our nation, and we fought a bloody civil war to expunge that sin," he said.

"But I also understand those who want to remember the sacrifices of their ancestors and the traditions of their states, not the racial oppression, but the historical traditions, and I think often this issue is used as a wedge to try to divide people," Cruz added.

Former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney on Saturday had said that the flag should be taken down, but Cruz recommended outsiders refrain from weighing in on the issue.

"I think that's a question for South Carolina, and the last thing they need is people from outside the state coming in and dictating how they should resolve that issue," the senator said.

Unlike the other flags at the statehouse, the Confederate banner was not lowered to half-staff after the Emanuel AME Church shooting because doing so is under the authority of the state's General Assembly, NBC News explained. The legislature would also have to vote to remove the symbol, which originally flew over the Capitol dome until a 2000 compromise, the network added.

President Barack Obama, meanwhile, believes the Confederate flag "should be taken down and placed in a museum where it belongs," but acknowledges that the decision is a state issue, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said during Monday's press briefing.