Nikki Haley, who wants to be the Republican candidate for President, did not say that slavery was a reason for the Civil War. She talked about how the government worked instead.
At a meeting in New Hampshire, someone asked her why the Civil War happened. Haley used to be the governor of South Carolina and worked at the United Nations. She didn't say slavery was the main reason.
Haley said the war was about how the government should work and what people were allowed to do. Later, on a radio show, she said the war was actually about slavery and talked about what that means now.
Nikki Haley said the Civil War was about different kinds of freedom, like personal and economic freedom. She also talked about individual rights.
Then, Haley claimed without proof that the person who asked her about the Civil War was secretly working for the Democrats. She thinks President Biden and his team are doing this to control the election and make sure Biden faces Donald Trump again.
Haley believes Biden is focusing on her because she could beat him easily. She also thinks the Democrats want Trump to be the Republican candidate again.
When asked if she really thought the person asking the question was working for the Democrats, Haley said yes. She's sure it was a setup.
“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,” she said.
“We see these guys when they come in, we know what they’re doing, and we know from the second they asked the question, if you look at the last one, I did New Hampshire, there was one at every single town hall,” she added. “This is what they do, and I’m trying to turn the questions back on them. In this case, this is, you know, this is what happened, but yeah, this is what they’re doing. And so if you notice, he didn’t mention anything about slavery, he didn’t talk about it, because that wasn’t the intent. That was never his intent.”
In New Hampshire, people who are not part of any political party can vote in the Republican primary. This could help candidates like Nikki Haley or Chris Christie, who used to be the governor of New Jersey.
Haley strongly repeated her point of view at a town hall meeting on Thursday morning.
“Of course, the Civil War was about slavery. We know that that’s unquestioned, always the case,” she said. “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 80 years.”
After Haley finished answering, the person who asked the question was surprised she didn't say "slavery." He told her this. Haley asked him what he wanted her to say about slavery.
Then, Haley went on to answer the next question.
