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Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley was in damage control mode Thursday over her failure to mention slavery when prompted about the Civil War at a town hall in New Hampshire.
The remarks by Ms. Haley, who trails front-runner Donald Trump by double digits nationally but has risen in the polls in early primary states, came three weeks before New Hampshire primary voters head to the ballot box Jan. 23.
In separate appearances in the Granite State on a local radio show and at another town hall, the former U.N. ambassador under Mr. Trump said the Civil War was about individual “freedoms” and the “role of government” — in addition to slavery.
“Of course, the Civil War was about slavery. We know that. That’s the easy part of it,” she said on the radio program “The Pulse of NH.” “What I was saying was what does it mean to us today? What it means to us today is about freedom. That’s what that was all about. It was about individual freedom, it was about economic freedom, it was about individual rights. Our goal is to make sure we never go back to the stain of slavery.”
At a town hall shortly after, Ms. Haley made similar remarks.
“By the grace of God, we did the right thing, and slavery is no more,” she said. “But the lessons of what that bigger issue with the Civil War is that let’s not forget what came out of that.”
Ms. Haley, prompted Wednesday at a town hall by an audience member about the cause of the Civil War, offered a different explanation but that also centered on “freedoms.”
“Well, don’t come with an easy question or anything,” she responded. “I mean, 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.”
The former South Carolina governor then asked the attendee to answer his own question, to which the man responded that he was not the one seeking the White House.
“I think it always comes down to the role of government and what the rights of the people are. And I will always stand by the fact that I think government was intended to secure the rights and freedoms of the people,” she said.
“Government doesn’t need to tell you how to live your life. They need to make sure that you have freedom. We need to have capitalism. We need to have economic freedom. We need to make sure that we do all things so that individuals have the liberties so that they can have freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom to do or be anything they want to be without government getting in the way,” she said.
The questioner said it was “astonishing” Ms. Haley’s answer omitted slavery.
“What do you want me to say about slavery?” she responded before moving on to another question.
In her Thursday radio interview, Ms. Haley accused the unnamed man of being a “Democrat plant.” The man reportedly refused to identify himself to reporters.
“Why is Biden doing it? Why isn’t he doing it to any other candidate?” she said. “It’s because he knows I defeat him by double digits. It’s also because they know they want to run against Trump.”
Ms. Haley‘s Republican challengers were quick to whack her for the misstep.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ campaign labeled it an “embarrassing gaffe” that proved she “isn’t ready for prime time.”
“If Nikki Haley whiffs on a question as simple as the underlying cause of the Civil War, how can she win the Republican nomination or defeat Joe Biden in November?” said DeSantis Communications Director Andrew Romeo.
Michael Biundo, an adviser to candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, accused Ms. Haley of “lying” about the questioner being a Democratic operative.
“If she thought the question had an easy and a harder answer, why didn’t she answer the easy part? Especially if she thought it might be a trap,” Mr. Biundo wrote on social media. “The answer is — she’s lying.”
President Biden also delivered a short statement: “It was about slavery.”
Democratic plant or not, Republican strategists told The Washington Times that Ms. Haley face-planted on a softball question that will dominate a slow holiday news cycle. She also bungled the cleanup effort, they said.
“To come on the radio and say slavery is the easy answer, well if it was the easy answer, why didn’t you just give that answer?” said GOP strategist Rick Tyler, former spokesman for Texas Sen. Ted Cruz’s 2016 presidential run. “On presidential campaigns, we live for the easy answers.”
Ms. Haley has surged in recent polls among New Hampshire voters, including one last week that had her just 4 points behind Mr. Trump. But the increased popularity also attracts more attention — good and bad.
“The higher you go up the ladder, the more they can see your butt,” said Republican strategist John Feehery. “Everything you say is held to higher scrutiny when you’re somebody who people see as gaining momentum.”
• Seth McLaughlin contributed to this report.
• Ramsey Touchberry can be reached at rtouchberry@washingtontimes.com.
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