'That doesn't make it go away': Nikki Haley slammed for saying she has 'moved on' from viral slavery flub

COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA: In a recent Fox News interview, 2024 presidential hopeful Nikki Haley talked about moving past the controversy surrounding her perceived inability to identify slavery as the primary cause of the Civil War during a town hall in Berlin, New Hampshire. 

When questioned about the cause of the Civil War by a voter, she answered, "I think the cause of the Civil War was basically how government was going to run. I think it always comes down to the role of government and what the rights of the people are," and failed to mention the issue of slavery even once. 

Fox News host Harris Faulkner led the recent discussion, acknowledging that the issue "is going to continue to come up, and the reason that it has is maybe you haven’t put it to bed yet."

Nikki Haley clarifies her slavery flub

Haley admitted her oversight and clarified in a subsequent radio interview that the connection between slavery and the Civil War was evident. However, she also labeled the interviewer, who deemed the query supposedly "easy," as a "Democrat plant."

Faulkner stressed the importance of addressing such questions and remarked, "Whatever—it's a question put to you."

When asked about the criticism surrounding her answer, Haley reiterated her previous comments, saying, "When you grow up in the South, you grow up and slavery is a constant comment and constant point of discussion. You learn it in school. You talk about it. The South is actually very comfortable with our history."

She added, "What I should have said immediately was that the Civil War was about slavery, but I just assumed that that was a given. And I went on and said it was also about the role of government and about the rights of people economically, socially, and otherwise. So yes, we know the Civil War was about slavery."

Haley, pointing to her role as the Governor of South Carolina in 2015 when she authorized the removal of the Confederate flag from statehouse grounds after a tragic mass shooting, affirmed that the public is not fixated on her response.

She claimed, "Really, the media is the only one that has talked about this issue." The presidential hopeful was quickly challenged by Faulkner, who insisted, "No, that’s actually not true."

Nikki Haley asserts everyone except the media has 'moved on' from her slavery flub

Despite mixed reactions from commentators, including support from some on 'Fox & Friends' who portrayed her as a victim of a "gotcha question," Haley insisted that everyday citizens in Iowa and New Hampshire are not concerned about the incident.

She said, "Not one person on the ground in Iowa… or New Hampshire [is] talking about it. I’ve done multiple town halls. We’ve done 150 town halls. I answer every question from Republicans, from Democrats, from independents."

Haley expressed frustration with the media's prolonged focus on this particular episode, asserting, "The very next day I came out and said I was wrong. I'll do that. We're moving on. We're moving on."

"I will tell you that people in South Carolina know me, and it’s amazing how you’re going to take one question out of 150 where I said immediately, 'Yes, I should have said slavery. That’s a given'," noted the presidential hopeful, as per the Daily Beast.

Haley concluded, "And so the media can talk about this all you want. But everybody else has moved on and we’re going to keep on talking about the issues that matter, which are the economy, education, the border, making sure we get law and order back to our country, and how to deal with these wars around the world."

Internet reacts to Nikki Haley's remarks regarding moving on from her slavery flub

While Haley asserted that everybody has "moved on" from the episode, remarks from netizens painted a different picture. 

One noted, "That doesn’t make it go away Nikki," and another added, "She moved on about 2 seconds after she said it. That’s the problem."

"On to the next gaffe," quipped a person, while someone else remarked, "South Carolina is not surprised by her "move on" -ness." 

An individual expressed, "I don't think she understands. Her getting over it isn't the question. Are we over it is the question. Evidently, that doesn't matter to her."

One more opined, "Credit to Faulkner for bringing up the part where Haley said "What do you want me to say about slavery" but she didn't really press her on it, just let her blather about it. I also think Haley often approaches the issue of race from the left and does so again in this spiel." 

Another person added, "Umm…we’re still talking about it in Iowa… Also, every classroom in the Midwest learned about slavery. Why does she make it sound like only the South did? Any kid in America would tell you slavery was the main cause of the Civil War."

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.