Nikki Haley Felt Stupid for Not Saying Slavery Caused Civil War

In an interview Wednesday morning with the Breakfast Club Morning Show, Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley was asked by host Charlamagne tha God if she felt stupid "later that night" for not including slavery in her answer about the cause of the Civil War in December.

Haley, who is trailing front-runner Donald Trump in national polls for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, responded by saying, "Yeah, it was one of those things. Because slavery is a given, but I was too busy judging his intentions than I was answering the questions. And it was a mistake."

How We Got Here

At a campaign event in December, Haley, who is running for the GOP nomination against the former president, was asked about the cause of the Civil War and failed to mention slavery in her answer, eliciting harsh responses.

In her initial answer at a town hall in Berlin, New Hampshire, Haley pinned the cause of the Civil War on the government and which freedoms should be granted.

"I think the cause of the Civil War was basically how government was going to run," she said. "The freedoms and what people could and couldn't do. What do you think the cause of the Civil War was?"

Haley was the governor of South Carolina in 2015, when she signed into law a measure to remove the Confederate battle flag from the state Capitol.

Newsweek has reached out to Haley's campaign via email for comment.

What We Know

In Wednesday's interview, Haley offered more insight into why she did not mention slavery in her answer.

"Slavery should have been the first thing that came out of my mouth," she said. "I mean growing up in South Carolina, we all knew that the Civil War was about slavery, that almost seemed too easy. I thought he was asking a harder question and that's why I didn't say it. It was wrong, I should have said it, I agree, but it was just me overthinking that question."

However, her recent comments involving the country's past, specifically involving race, while on the campaign trail have sparked backlash.

While appearing on Fox News' Fox & Friends this month, Haley discussed the state of her campaign following her loss in the Iowa caucuses and was asked by network host Brian Kilmeade if the GOP was a racist party, a notion Haley rejected.

"No. We are not a racist country, Brian. We've never been a racist country," she said. "Our goal is to make sure that today is better than yesterday. Are we perfect? No. But our goal is to always make sure we try and be more perfect every day that we can."

The comments sparked backlash online as some noted Haley's position as former governor of South Carolina and her South Asian heritage.

Views

William Harris, North Carolina State University professor emeritus and a historian who specializes in the Civil War, criticized Haley's initial explanation for how the conflict started.

"Haley's avoidance of the relationship of slavery and the Civil War is the kind of thing Southern [white] politicians have been doing ever since the Confederacy lost," he previously told Newsweek. "Before the war, they did not try to hide the truth, far from it."

Professor Nina Silber of Boston University, author of This War Ain't Over: Fighting the Civil War in New Deal America, argued that Haley's comments were a deliberate bid to appeal to the current GOP grassroots.

"I'd say Nikki Haley's response to the question about what caused the Civil War was calculated to appeal to a big majority of present-day Republican voters," Silber previously told Newsweek. "She clearly evaded the issue of slavery and, at least initially, emphasized other factors like different approaches to government and some vague understanding about 'freedom.'"

In response to the backlash, Haley told voters in North Conway, New Hampshire, in part: "Of course the Civil War was about slavery. We know that. That's unquestioned, always the case, 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, America had the decision and the moral question of whether slavery was a good thing and whether government—economically, culturally, any other reasons—had a role to play in that."

What's Next?

After the Nevada and Virgin Islands caucuses on February 8, the South Carolina primary will be held in Haley's home state on February 24.

Trump scored a win in the Republican Iowa caucuses on January 15, beating Ron DeSantis by 51 percent of the vote versus 21.2 percent, shortly after which the Florida governor dropped out and endorsed the former president. Eight days later, Trump also won the New Hampshire primary, though by a narrower margin, with 54.3 percent of the vote to Haley's 43.3 percent.

Following her loss in New Hampshire, where she won nine of the 21 delegates, Haley insisted she isn't dropping out of the race.

Update 1/31/24, 3:45 p.m. ET: This story was updated with additional information.