Nikki Haley gets trolled for reply on cause of US civil war, claims it was ‘planted’
Nikki Haley embarrases herself on a question on cause of US civil war, Biden responds to her.
Republican presidential nominee Nikki Haley today embarrassed herself by ignoring the most important factor that led to US civil war - Slavery.
During an audience question-answer round, Haley, a former U.N. ambassador and South Carolina governor was asked - "What was the cause of the United States Civil War?”
Despite slavery being the main cause of the civil war Haley’s answer did not include any mention of the word. It prompted surprise from her questioner and swift criticism and rebuttals from Democrats and Republicans, including President Biden.
Nikki Haley caught off guard
At first, when she heard the question, Haley appeared caught off guard. She then looked at the man dressed in a plaid shirt who stood behind his sons seated in the back row. Paused and responded, “Well, don’t come with an easy question.” Then she proceeded to answer.
She was interacting with people in recreation room in the northernmost city in New Hampshire, a place that has leaned red in recent elections, grew quiet.
“I think the cause of the Civil War was basically how government was going to run, the freedoms and what people could and couldn’t do,” Haley said.
“What was cause of the Civil War?”
She then turned the question to the man who asked it: “What do you think the cause of the Civil War was?”
The man responded that he is not running for president and wanted to hear her thoughts.
“I think it always comes down to the role of government and what the rights of the people are,” Haley continued. “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.”
The man then responded, “In the year 2023, it’s astonishing to me that you answer that question without mentioning the word slavery.”
Haley quickly replied with a question: “What do you want me to say about slavery?”
The man said, “You’ve answered my question, thank you.” Haley replied, “Next question.”
US President Joe Biden later took to social media to call attention to Haley’s exchange. “It was about slavery,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Vickie Plourde, Haley's supporter felt the question was a setup. “We have to move past that,” she said of slavery. “If we continue to look in the past and say ‘Look, look, look, look,’ and we’re not moving forward, we’re going to stay back there.”
Nikki Haley and race rhetoric
In the past, race has been a delicate issue for Haley. After a white supremacist killed nine people attending Bible study at a historically Black church in Charleston in 2015, Haley signed legislation removing the Confederate flag from the State House grounds. In 2010, she suggested that she would not make such a move and was well-equipped to challenge an NAACP-boycott of the state over the flag because of her status as a woman of color.