[ The former South Carolina governor instead said it was a dispute
over how ‘government was going to run.’]
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HALEY DECLINES TO SAY SLAVERY WAS CAUSE OF CIVIL WAR  
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Lisa Kashinski and Sam Stein
December 27, 2023
Politico
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_ The former South Carolina governor instead said it was a dispute
over how ‘government was going to run.’ _

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley., Charlie Neibergall/AP


 

Nikki Haley declined to say that slavery was a cause of the Civil War
on Wednesday evening, placing the blame, instead, on the role of
government.

The former UN Ambassador and South Carolina governor, who has seen her
star rise in the first-in-the-nation primary state, was appearing at a
town hall event in Berlin, New Hampshire, when a voter asked her to
identify the cause of the war.

“I think the cause of the Civil War was basically how government was
going to run,” she responded. “The freedoms and what people could
and couldn’t do. What do you think the cause of the Civil War was or
argument?”

The questioner, who could not be easily heard off camera, was
apparently unpersuaded by Haley’s response. When she asked him what
he believed the cause of the war was, he replied that he wasn’t
running for president.

“I think it always comes down to the role of government and what the
rights of the people are,” Haley replied. “And I will always stand
by the fact that I think government was intended to secure the rights
and freedoms of the people. It was never meant to be all things to all
people. Government doesn’t need to tell you how to live your life.
They don’t need to tell you what you can and can’t do. They
don’t need to be a part of 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.”

When the questioner said it was “astonishing” to hear her respond
“without mentioning the word slavery,” Haley replied: “What do
you want me to say about slavery?” She then asked for the next
question.

The exchange, which took place roughly an hour and a half into the
town hall event, underscored the unique nature and customary pitfalls
that often await candidates in New Hampshire, where direct exchanges
with voters are the norm.

Haley has seen her stock rise rapidly in the Granite State in recent
weeks, with a pitch that is often in tune with the state’s more
moderate and independent minded streak of Republicanism. But her
southern roots aren’t always a natural fit in New Hampshire. And the
comments on slavery could pose hurdles for her in the coming weeks.

Haley was governor when South Carolina removed the confederate flag
government grounds in 2015, following the shooting at the Emanuel
African Methodist Episcopal Church in June 2015. Prior to then, she
defended states’ rights to secede from the United States in a 2010
interview with a local activist group, as CNN reported
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While there were a number of contributions to the outbreak of the
Civil War, the conflict, which was the deadliest in U.S. history, was
fought predominantly over the South’s desire to see the preservation
of slavery.

_Lisa Kashinsky is a politics reporter and author of the Massachusetts
Playbook. She covers the 2024 presidential election with a focus on
New Hampshire, as well as Massachusetts state politics. She is based
in Boston.  Sam Stein is POLITICO's Deputy Managing Editor for
Politics._

* Nikki Haley
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* New Hampshire Primary
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* U.S. Slavery
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* US Civil War
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