President Joe Biden had a simple four word response to GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley on Thursday after she dodged a question about the cause of the Civil War.
Biden reposted a video of Haley’s response to the question and wrote: “It was about slavery.”
During a campaign event Wednesday evening in Berlin, New Hampshire, Haley was asked by an audience member to name the cause of the US Civil War.
“Well, don’t come with an easy question,” Haley said. “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. What do you think the cause of the Civil War was?”
The audience member told Haley he is not the one running for president.
Haley elaborated but still made no mention of slavery.
“I think it always comes down to the role of government, and what the rights of the people are,” she said. “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.”
When the voter asked why she wasn’t mentioning slavery in her response, Haley responded: “What do you want me to say about slavery?”
The former South Carolina governor has since tried to clean up her comments, telling a New Hampshire radio show Thursday, “of course the Civil War was about slavery.”
“We know that. That’s the easy part of it,” she continued. “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.”
She also accused the New Hampshire voter who asked her the question of being a “Democrat plant.”
