Nikki Haley’s Civil War Remarks Spark Backlash From Conservatives

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley sparked a backlash on social media, including from conservatives, after she was asked about the cause of the Civil War and didn’t mention slavery in her answer.

Haley, who served six years as South Carolina’s governor and then two years as the ambassador to the United Nations, was asked by a voter during a town hall in Berlin, New Hampshire, on Wednesday to identify the cause of the Civil War.

“I think the cause of the Civil War was basically how government was going to run,” she said. “The freedoms and what people could and couldn’t do. What do you think the cause of the Civil War was?”

The man who asked the question replied that he was not the one running for president and wanted to hear her answer.

Haley then went into a lengthier explanation that still made no mention of slavery.

“I mean, I think it always comes down to the role of government and what the rights of the people are,” she said. “And I will always stand by the fact that I think government was intended to secure the rights and freedoms of the people. It was never meant to be all things to all people. Government doesn’t need to tell you how to live your life. They don’t need to tell you what you can and can’t do. They don’t need to be a part of your life. They need to make sure that you have freedom.”

She continued: “We need to have capitalism. We need to have economic freedom. We need to make sure that we do all things so that individuals have the liberties so that they can have freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom to do or be anything they want to be without government getting in the way.”

The man who asked the question then said he was astonished by her omission.

“In the year 2023, it’s astonishing to me that you’d answer that question without mentioning the word slavery,” he said.

“What do you want me to say about slavery?” Haley retorted, before abruptly asking for the next question.

While running for governor in her home state in 2010, Haley described the Civil War as two sides fighting for different things—”tradition” versus “change.” In the interview with a now-defunct local activist group called The Palmetto Patriots, she also defended states’ right to secede from the United States and said the Confederate flag was “not something that is racist.”

Haley’s campaign has been contacted for comment via email.

Her latest remarks sparked criticism on social media from Republicans and Democrats alike.

The campaign of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, her closest rival for second place in the race for the Republican nomination behind former President Donald Trump, posted a video of her remarks on X, formerly Twitter.

“Yikes,” the post said. “Local New Hampshire stations are already covering Nikki Haley’s disastrous town hall tonight where she declined to mention ‘slavery’ when asked ‘What was the cause of the Civil War?'”

Vivek Ramaswamy, another Republican presidential candidate, also took a swipe at Haley on X.

“‘What do you want me to say about slavery?’ I think she mistook him for a Super PAC donor,” Ramaswamy wrote.

Olivia Troye, a former Trump administration official, wrote that Haley has “long forgotten the party of Lincoln.”

Troye said it was “another classic Nikki Haley move desperately pandering for that VP slot on the Trump ticket.”

Conservative lawyer Heath Mayo wrote: “Good grief. What is she doing? Closest chance of taking down Trump since 2016, and she’s fumbling over what caused the Civil War?! It’s not a gotcha question, @NikkiHaley. Quit running on eggshells—and run to win instead.”

Ian Miles Cheong, a conservative personality, wrote that Haley “just up her cringe presidential campaign with this embarrassing clip about the Civil War. She won’t say the Civil War was about slavery and when confronted about it she calls on someone else.”

Democrats also hit out at Haley over her comments.

Christale Spain, who became the first Black woman to chair South Carolina’s Democratic Party this year, said Haley’s response was “vile, but unsurprising.”

“The same person who refused to take down the Confederate Flag until the tragedy in Charleston, and tried to justify a Confederate History Month,” Spain wrote on X, of Haley. “She’s just as MAGA as Trump.”

President Joe Biden shared a video of Haley’s answer to the voter’s question, adding: “It was about slavery.”