Nikki Haley flubs question on the Civil War.

 

Nikki Haley. The Hill/AP.

Nikki Haley flubbed a question about the Civil War during a town hall event. The Hill. Haley blamed the question on a "Democrat plant". When asked about the cause of the American Civil War, Haley failed to mention slavery. Haley said “Well, don’t come with an easy question, right? I mean, 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,”. The voter said it was astonishing that she didn't mention slavery, and Haley responded with "what do you want me to say about slavery?". Both Republicans and Democrats attacked Haley for the comment and many noted that it was an easy question regardless if it was a "trap" question. 

 

Hours after declining to do so, Nikki Haley said today that she believed slavery did, indeed, cause the Civil War. She suggested the person who asked her the question last night was a “Democratic plant." https://t.co/7ld6Bc9R4F

Watch the original exchange👇 pic.twitter.com/KbiPVDN8tt

— POLITICO (@politico) December 28, 2023

My Comment:

I've got mixed feelings about this one. On the one hand, I dislike Haley and think she obviously flubbed the question. It should absolutely hurt her chances in 2024, as slim as they already are. On the other, blaming the Civil War on only slavery is wrong too. 

Though the origins of the Civil War are indeed related to slavery, but that's hardly the full story. The war was really more about the urban northern states imposing their will on the rural southern states and an effort to utterly destroy the economy of the South. Indeed, if the issue had been anything other than slavery, nobody would think that the North were the good guys. Luckily for them, it was indeed about slavery. The South was mad that an abolitionist was elected and they rebelled.

Even in that context, Haley's answer was pretty terrible. Indeed, she had the "deer in the headlights" look on her face like she was totally unprepared for the question. Though you could argue that the role of government and freedom did have a role in the government, it's not a good answer. 

What is more disturbing for anyone who wants Haley to win is that this was an obviously easy question. Even if this was a plant from the Democrats (though it could easily have been from either party) she should have had an answer prepared. This was a layup for her and she absolutely failed at it. 

This shows that Haley isn't really prepared for the big stage. The whole point of town halls like this is to get questions the media doesn't always ask so you have to be prepared for questions like this. Could the guy have been a plant? Sure. Does it matter? Absolutely not. All she had to do was answer the question and she did not. 

What is hilarious to me is that Nikki Haley is the establishments best chance at beating Trump and she flubbed one could be the most establishment question she could ever get. The establishment will broker no explanation of the Civil War except slavery and that's why everyone is turning on her now. 

Will she recover from this? I am not sure. Haley angered the anti-Trump right and that's about the only group of people that like Haley in the first place. On the other hand, what other candidate are they going to coalesce around? Ron DeSantis has pretty much destroyed his political career and Chris Christie has the charisma of a toad. My guess is that she will stay in the race.  

The good news is that this probably means that Nikki Haley is not going to be Donald Trump's VP candidate now. That was probably a longshot in the first place, as Haley is pretty much the opposite of Trump regardless. But after this flub, I think Trump is sure to pick someone that isn't her.