Presidential hopeful Nikki Haley has found herself in hot waters after refusing to acknowledge slavery as the main cause of the Civil War. The former governor of South Carolina made the blunder during a town hall debate in Berlin, New Hampshire, on Wednesday night.
When quizzed about the root cause of the bloody conflict, Haley appeared to deflect the question. She joked with the audience member, saying, “well, don’t come with an easy question,” before suggesting that the Civil War was waged over ideas of freedom and ideological differences in how governments ought to work.
However, her answer failed to convince many critics who slammed her response as a whitewashing of history. Haley’s detractors argue that it is impossible to ignore the elephant in the room – a century of slavery which ultimately led to the Civil War.
Haley, who is currently trailing behind Donald Trump in the race for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, has been accused of glossing over a pivotal event in American history. Many political pundits believe that her inability to accept the role played by slavery shows a worrying lack of understanding.
At the town hall debate, the White House hopeful also went on a tangent about the limits of government overreach and civil liberties. However, this only served to divert attention away from her previous comments and riled up some members of the audience.
The question of slavery’s legacy in the United States has become increasingly contentious in recent years. With some conservatives seeking to downplay its impact, and others calling for more widespread recognition of its effects, the issue is unlikely to go away anytime soon. However, with her response to this question, Haley has attracted considerable criticism, and her run for president may never recover.
