内容摘要：When contacted by AP, Kayembe denied being coerced by the Malawi or Chinese governments, writing in an email that he withdrew because the alliance appeared “aimed at achieving geopolitical intentions against China.”

When contacted by AP, Kayembe denied being coerced by the Malawi or Chinese governments, writing in an email that he withdrew because the alliance appeared “aimed at achieving geopolitical intentions against China.”

Judge Jefferson Griffin, the Republican candidate for the N.C. Supreme Court listens to testimony in Wake County Superior Court on Friday, February 7, 2025 in Raleigh, N.C. (Robert Willett/The News & Observer via AP, File)The photographs, which were obtained by The Associated Press, are from when Griffin was a student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 1999-2003 and a

, one of the oldest and largest fraternities in the U.S., with tens of thousands of alumni.Griffin said he regretted donning the Confederate uniform, which was customary during the fraternity’s annual “Old South” ball.“I attended a college fraternity event that, in hindsight, was inappropriate and does not reflect the person I am today,” Griffin said in a statement. “At that time, like many college students, I did not fully grasp such participation’s broader historical and social implications. Since then, I have grown, learned, and dedicated myself to values that promote unity, inclusivity, and respect for all people.”

One of the pictures, taken during the 2001 ball, shows Griffin and roughly two-dozen other fraternity members clad in Confederate uniforms. Another photograph from the spring of 2000 shows Griffin and other Kappa Alpha brothers in front of a large Confederate flag. He served in 2002 as his chapter’s president.Kappa Alpha has proven to be a lightning rod for controversy over the decades, often due to the racist or insensitive actions of some of its members. A number of politicians have been forced to apologize for having worn Confederate costumes at the fraternity’s functions or for being photographed in front of a Confederate flag.

Griffin said Friday he voted in favor of a resolution prohibiting Kappa Alpha members from displaying the rebel battle flag at the group’s national convention in 2001. The fraternity didn’t ban the wearing of the Confederate uniforms until nearly a decade later, long after Griffin graduated.

“We believe in cultural humility, we respect the best parts of our organization’s history, and through education we challenge our members to work for a better future. These things are not mutually exclusive,” said Jesse Lyons, a spokesman for Kappa Alpha’s national office in Lexington, Virginia.South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem reacts to the crowd prior to remarks from Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally Saturday, March 16, 2024, in Vandalia, Ohio. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean, File)

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem reacts to the crowd prior to remarks from Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally Saturday, March 16, 2024, in Vandalia, Ohio. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean, File)The expenses, released last month following a lawsuit by

, have incensed Republicans in the deep-red state, with several GOP lawmakers accusing Noem of tapping state funds to fuel her own political ascendancy.The uproar comes as the Trump administration seeks to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse in government and as Noem has taken over DHS, the third-largest federal agency, with a budget and workforce many times the size of South Dakota’s.