Second Republican Trashed Over Civil War Comments

Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton is facing a backlash over comments he made about the Civil War following Nikki Haley's controversy over the same issue.

Haley, a Republican primary candidate, sparked criticism after she was asked by a voter during a town hall in Berlin, New Hampshire, on Wednesday about the cause of the Civil War and did not mention slavery.

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

"I mean, I think it always comes down to the role of government and what the rights of the people are," Haley continued. "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."

The man who asked the question replied: "In the year 2023, it's astonishing to me that you'd answer that question without mentioning the word slavery," he said.

"What do you want me to say about slavery?" Haley said before asking for the next question.

Her comments sparked criticism from Democrats and Republicans alike with President Joe Biden sharing the video of the conversation on X, formerly Twitter, and writing: "It was about slavery."

Cotton, who in 2020 faced criticism for calling slavery "a necessary evil," weighed in on the debate on X.

"The Civil War started because the American people elected an anti-slavery Republican as president and Democrats revolted rather than accept minor restrictions on the expansion of slavery to the western territories," the Republican senator wrote.

He added in a second post: "And today, Democrats would sooner tear the country apart than treat all citizens equally before the law, regardless of color."

Newsweek reached out to Cotton via email for comment.

In response, MeidasTouch editor-in-chief Ron Filipkowski said Cotton was giving "another ignorant and stupid analogy."

BrooklynDad_Defiant, a prominent Biden supporter, called Cotton "an idiot."

Manisha Sinha, author of The Slave's Cause: A History of Abolition, wrote: "Historian here, seems like Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas like Rip Van Winkle has been asleep for the past hundred years. Will someone enlighten him?"

Meanwhile, responding to her own backlash, Haley told voters at another campaign event in North Conway, New Hampshire: "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."