She answered like this because she's a liberal-ish neocon, and she has no idea what actual conservatives think.
Actual conservatives think that the Civil War was fought over the issue of slavery. (Well, you can say "states rights," and there is some truth in that, but that elides the fact that the state right being fought over was the right for some people to own other people. The war wasn't fought over states rights generally, but about one state "right" in particular.)
Nikki Haley had no idea how to answer so she punted the question back to the questioner.
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."
That might sound good, but that's part of Nikki Haley's song-and-dance about why we can't outlaw genital mutilation for children. It's the standard neocon hustle about any social issue: "The government shouldn't be involved in deciding what experimental surgeries children can get. I'm a Real Conservative!"
Kochservative more like it am i rite
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.
She is very maladroit and has all the charm of a toe blister. Not sure why Boeing decided to shower her with millions of dollars.
Just kidding, I know why.
DeSantis pounded her.
He wants her out of the way, of course. The anti-Trump vote consists of two distinct parts: Actual conservative populists like me who think Donald Trump is a fuck-up only capable of tweets and rally statements, not actually enacting any of his alleged program into law,* and simple liberal neocons who object to Trump not because he can't implement his own claimed policy but because they hate that policy and want to return to Country Club Corporatism.
With Nikki Haley in the race, the latter type of voter will vote for this liberalism-but-with-tax-breaks-for-the-rich pablum.
DeSantis wants her out so that this kind of establishment corporatist has no other choice but to support him, at least, if they want to oppose Trump.
Weird that Trump was (is?) considering her as a vice presidential pick.
Apparently Trump can't deny he's mulling adding this establishment shill as a vice president, because his son is out there now telling Fox News he'll stop his father from picking her.
onald Trump Jr. said Monday he would go to "great lengths" to prevent GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley from joining his father's campaign.
Trump Jr. said during a Christmas Day interview that he views Haley as the "preferred candidate" of the Washington establishment.
"I wouldn't have her on, and I would go to great lengths to make sure that that doesn't happen," Trump Jr. said on Newsmax's "The Balance."
"Nikki Haley wants never-ending wars," he continued. "She's a puppet of the establishment in Washington D.C. She's the new favorite candidate of the billionaire class, because they want control -- no different than academia at Harvard and using, you know, their billions to exercising influence. They want someone they control. Ron DeSantis has proven that he doesn't have what it takes to be on that stage. He's embarrassed himself that way. She's now the preferred candidate."
Trump Jr. suggested Haley would try to sabotage Trump's campaign "from within" if she was chosen as his running mate.
"No, I would not want Nikki Haley to be there," he added. "By the way, all you'd get is her and team trying to destroy Donald Trump from within, forever. The second she ever got that, you know, anointment, it would be a disaster of epic proportions. So, I would hope that never is on the table, and I don't think it is."
This kid:
- I also strongly, strongly suspect that Trump would use his second term -- if somehow he won one -- to repair his reputation with the leftwing media whose affirmation and praise he craves. And that means selling out his actual supporters in order to "evolve in office" to please the people whose opinions matter to him.