(RepublicanView.org) – Republican Presidential candidate Nikki Haley came under fire in the Granite State when she refused to mention slavery as a cause of the US Civil War. The rising Republican, who served as Governor of South Carolina from 2011 to 2017, said the war determined how the United States would be governed and cemented a capitalist economy and the freedoms of American citizens.
Haley made the remarks during a town hall meeting in Berlin when an audience member asked her to define the causes of the war. He said her response was “astonishing” and questioned why she didn’t mention slavery. Haley replied, “What do you want me to say about slavery?” before quickly adding, “Next question.”
Democrats and Republicans condemned the former UN Ambassador’s comments. Fellow Republican White House contender Chris Christie accused her of cowardice, Ron DeSantis said the exchange was “embarrassing,” while President Biden simply tweeted, “It was about slavery.”
Ms. Haley later clarified her position and said, “I’m from the South; of course, I know it was about slavery.” She did not, however, apologize and also said that the Civil War was bigger than that.
The questioner, identified only as Patrick, told reporters in New Hampshire that he asked the question because he had seen a video of another voter ask her this when she was running for Governor of South Carolina, and he wanted to know if she would give a different answer. “The answer that she gave was very similar to the answer that she gave tonight,” he said, according to CNN.
The former South Carolina Governor, who defended the confederate flag in 2010, later suggested the questioner was a “Democratic plant,” and this is why he would not give reporters his full name.
Backed by Governor Chris Sununu, Haley is rising in the polls in the Granite State and, before Christmas, came within just 4% of frontrunner Donald Trump in an American Research Group survey.
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