GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley fired back at President Joe Biden on Jan. 8 for taking a shot at her for not initially naming slavery as a cause of the Civil War.
“They embraced what is known as the ‘lost cause,’ the self-serving lie that the Civil War was not about slavery but about states’ rights. That was a lie, with terrible consequences,” said President Biden, referring to Confederates at a speech in South Carolina, where Ms. Haley was governor between 2011 and 2017.
“Let me be clear for those who don’t seem to know: Slavery was the cause of the Civil War. There’s no negotiation about that,” he continued. “Now we’re living in an era of a second Lost Cause. This time, the lie is about the 2020 election, the election in which you made your voices heard and your power known.”
President Biden’s Jan. 8 speech, in what was an apparent attempt at attracting black voters ahead of the election, was at the Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, where a white supremacist gunman killed nine people at a Bible study in 2015.
Ms. Haley did not hold back in responding to President Biden’s remarks.
“For Biden to show up there and give a political speech is offensive in itself,” she said.
“But the second thing I'll say is, I don’t need someone who palled around with segregationists in the 70s and has said racist comments all the way through his career lecturing me or anyone in South Carolina about what it means to have racism, slavery, or anything related to the Civil War,” Ms. Haley continued.
Indeed, President Biden has such a history.
The former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. faced scrutiny after a New Hampshire voter posed a direct question about the cause of the Civil War during a town hall on Dec. 27.
In her response, Ms. Haley, the former governor of South Carolina, omitted mentioning slavery as a primary catalyst, opting instead to focus on the role of government and individual freedoms. This response prompted Democrats to weigh in on her remarks.
“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,” Ms. Haley said to begin her response, before asking the voter what he thought the cause of the war was.
Pressing Ms. Haley for a response, the voter said he wasn’t running for president.
Elaborating on her response, Ms. Haley emphasized the role of government and individual freedoms.
“It always comes down to the role of government and what the rights of the people are,” Ms. Haley said. “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.”
Throughout her response, Ms. Haley advocated for limited government interference, capitalism, and economic freedom. She stressed the need for a society where individuals have the freedom to express themselves, practice their religion, and pursue their aspirations without government intervention.
When pressed on the omission, Ms. Haley responded, “What do you want me to say about slavery?” The voter said she'd answered his question, and then Ms. Haley asked for the next question.
The following day, Ms. Haley clarified her remarks.
“Of course the Civil War was about slavery. We know that. That’s the easy part of it,“ Ms. Haley told a New Hampshire radio show. ”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.”
During a town hall in New Hampshire on Dec. 28, Ms. Haley again said that slavery was what led to the war between the Union and the Confederacy. She reiterated that the battle was about whether the government had a role to play when it came to slavery versus freedom, and that the latter should not be taken away by the government.
