Nikki Haley Refuses to Acknowledge Slavery’s Role in Civil War, Says It Was About ‘How Government Was Gonna Run’

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley failed to mention slavery after being asked on Wednesday what the cause of the Civil War was.

During a town hall for Haley in Berlin, New Hampshire, a member of the audience asked, “What was the cause of the United States Civil War?”

Haley laughed and replied, “Well don’t come with an easy question,” before continuing, “I mean, I think the cause of the Civil War was basically how government was gonna run. The freedoms and what people could and couldn’t do.”

After Haley asked the audience member, “What do you think the cause of the Civil War was?” they shot back, “I’m not running for president.”

Haley then reiterated, “I mean, I think it always comes down to the role of government.”

“In 2023 it’s astonishing to me that you would answer that question without mentioning the word slavery,” the audience member declared, to which Haley asked, “What do you want me to say about slavery?”

“You’ve answered my question. Thank you,” concluded the audience member, as Haley quickly moved on and called for the next question.

The moment was soon picked up on CNN and social media, where users expressed bafflement over Haley’s refusal to mention the word “slavery” while discussing the Civil War.

“The ‘freedom’ in this case was the freedom to own people,” reacted CNN anchor Jim Sciutto, while MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan tweeted, “Nikki Haley. For shame. The GOP, folks, the modern GOP.”

Podcast host Tim Pool tweeted, “Holy shit… Nikki went full Confederate,” while the Bulwark editor-at-large Bill Kristol remarked, “A whole political party came into being against basically this point of view. If only it were still around today.”

Watch above via CNN.

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