Donald Trump’s PAC blasted Nikki Haley on Thursday after the former South Carolina governor failed to mention slavery as the cause of the Civil War during a campaign event in New Hampshire on Wednesday.
“Nikki Haley is struggling. Haley was unable to say that the Civil War was about slavery and thinks Dubuque is in New Hampshire,” the MAGA PAC wrote in a statement, according to The Hill.
“In fact, Haley is now claiming that the Civil War question was a ‘plant.’ The issue is her response, not the question. Haley is clearly not ready for primetime,” the statement added.
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?”
Haley has since tried to clean up her remarks, but that isn’t going too well either since she has chosen to call the voter who asked the question a “Democrat plant”.
While Trump continues to dominate the GOP primary polls nationally, it is a much different case in New Hampshire where Haley has been surging. A recent poll shows Haley just four points behind Trump in the Granite State.
