In remarks made on a radio interview Thursday, Republican presidential candidate former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley blamed a “Democrat plant” sent by the Biden campaign for the ’cause of the Civil War’ question she botched at a town hall Wednesday night in Berlin, New Hampshire. Haley also gave a do-over answer that blamed slavery for the War Between the States. Later at another town hall, Haley again blamed the slavery.
Haley appeared on the Pulse of NH show Good Morning New Hampshire with Jack Heath Thursday morning. The complete audio can be heard at this link.
Audio excerpt posted by the DeSantis campaign:
CLEANUP ON AISLE 5
LISTEN: Haley embarrassingly attempts to walk back her Civil War flub, explains that she couldn’t answer the simple question because the voter was a “Democrat plant.”
Nikki Haley doesn't have what it takes to win. pic.twitter.com/rKnqu96LjB
— DeSantis War Room
(@DeSantisWarRoom) December 28, 2023
Later Haley appeared at a town hall at Kennett High School in North Conway where she again addressed the ’cause of the Civil War’ question:
Nikki Haley again addresses her answer on the cause of the Civil War: pic.twitter.com/1ABNx6CkOh
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) December 28, 2023
Last night I was asked about the Civil War. And what I think of the Civil War, what was the cause of the Civil War?”
Of course, the Civil War was about slavery. We know that. That’s unquestioned. Always the case. We know the Civil War was about slavery. but it was also more than that. It was about the freedoms of every individual. It was about the role of government.
For eighty years, America had the decision and the moral question of whether slavery was a good thing? And whether government, economically, culturally, any other reasons, had a role to play in that.
By the grace of God, we did the right thing and slavery is no more. But the lessons of what the bigger issue with the Civil War are, is that let’s not forget what came out of that, which is: Government’s role, individual liberties, freedom for every single person, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom to do and be anything you want to be without anyone or government getting in your way. That should be the goal of what we always try to take away from that, right?
Because we never want to return back to that place but we always want to remember the lesson of what it means to be a free individual and that everyone deserves to be a free individual. So we stand by that. I say that as a Southerner. I say that as a Southern governor who removed the Confederate flag off the statehouse grounds. And I say it as a proud American of how far we have come.
Transribed by TGP.
The anonymous questioner at the Berlin town hall Wednesday told reporters he asked Haley about the cause of the Civil War because of this 2010 Q & A with the Palmetto Patriots when she was running for governor that did not mention slavery:
During a 2010 interview with neo-Confederates, Nikki Haley avoided saying the the Civil War was fought over slavery and instead implied the South was “fighting for tradition” while the Union was “fighting for change.” pic.twitter.com/128NVahRCN
— PatriotTakes
(@patriottakes) February 15, 2023
New Hampshire Journal excerpt:
The unidentified man later told reporters he asked the question because he heard her answer it in a similar way when she ran for South Carolina governor in 2010. He said he wanted to know if her views had since changed.
In 2015, while governor of the Palmetto State, Haley was widely praised for successfully removing the Confederate battle flag from atop the South Carolina state house and to a Confederate monument, resolving an issue that had plagued her state’s politics for years.
Haley’s 2010 answer is an apparent reference to an interview she held with a southern heritage activist group, the since-defunct Palmetto Patriots. A video of the interview was released by CNN last February.
In the interview, Haley said the Civil War was about two sides butting heads because one side stood for “tradition” while the other supported “change.”
Pressed by the heritage group on what that meant, Haley answered, “on individual rights and liberty of people.”
Thursday morning, Haley made it clear she believed the Civil War question came straight from Democrats.
“It was definitely a Democrat plant,” Haley told Heath. “That’s why I said, ‘What does it mean to you?’ And if you notice, he didn’t answer anything. The same reason he didn’t tell the reporters what his name was. The same reason he went and showed the guy that he was with the tweet that went up after he did it.
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