Republican presidential candidate John McCain says he still opposes flying the Confederate flag atop the state capitol in South Carolina.

The issue became one of hot debate in the 2000 presidential contest, and the flag was eventually taken down and placed elsewhere on statehouse grounds.

Protesters waved rebel flags Wednesday as McCain's bus procession arrived for events in Greenville and Spartanburg. Some passed out literature recalling McCain's push for the flag to be removed.

A questioner confronted McCain about the issue today as the candidate spoke in front of supporters, saying he believed McCain's position was wrong.

McCain said he "could not be more proud" of the people in the state who agreed that the flag should have been removed.

McCain later told reporters that the applause he got for his answer showed that most of the people in South Carolina have put the issue behind them and "don't want it reopened."