Politicians do not know how to give straight answers to direct questions. Nikki Haley demonstrated that last night when she botched her response to a question about the Civil War and slavery.

Democrats and supporters of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis criticized former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley on Wednesday after she refused to name slavery as the primary cause of the Civil War.

Haley, 51, made the apparent gaffe during a town hall event in Berlin, NH, after a voter asked the former United Nations ambassador to identify the cause of the deadliest war in American history.

She offered up a word salad instead of answering the question.

The transcript doesn’t do her any favors. 

“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.”

Again, it was a direct question that required a simple answer. Not five paragraphs dancing around the subject! We yell at Democrats for doing the same, and I absolutely abhor the speechifying every politician does during House and Senate hearings. GET. TO. THE. POINT. Quit taking the long way around the barn! 

There will be a lot of dissection regarding what was and wasn’t the causes of the Civil War. And the pundits will parse Nikki Haley’s response into infinity. 

Does anyone truly believe that the child of Indian immigrants to the United States, who took down the Confederate flag flying over her state capital, is a pro-slavery racist? I say this fully knowing it was a dreadful answer and that dreadful answers sometimes tank campaigns.

— John Podhoretz (@jpodhoretz) December 28, 2023

And, if you scroll through responses to John’s tweet/X you’ll see people claiming that she’s bowing to pro-slavery racists with her answer, and some are pointing to the Confederate Flag issue as well. She botched that response early on, and it is coming back to haunt her with last night’s word salad. 

It’s worth noting that she’s not the only one who is incapable of answering a simple question regarding slavery. Joe Biden is on record for tap-dancing his way through a response back in 2006. 

Quote, you don’t know my state. My state was a slave state, my state is a border state, my state has the either largest black population in the country. My state is anything from a Northeast liberal state. We see Joe Biden embracing the fact that it was a slave state.

Professor E.R. SHIPP (Professor of Journalism, Hofstra University): Yes. This -between Kerry and Biden, it seems like this is an episode of the Democrats version of Desperate Housewives; we just call it desperate politicians. With Kerry, he should’ve raised the issue back in 2004. And the particulars of the vote count then have been challenged and so far upheld. But what he’s doing now is pandering to try to raise money for the Democratic candidate in the race in Ohio.

But Biden sounds like he’s – he’s an interesting character – but it sounds like he’s basically saying, I had more slaves than you did. Delaware was just a slave state. I mean it was like – it’s ridiculous on his face. But he’s been known to have difficulties with expressing himself verbally.

Can you imagine what his answer would be NOW? Biden has already informed us all multiple times in the last three years that he is the blackest of black Presidents known to man because college! church! Puerto Rico! You name it, he’s been there done that. 

Which doesn’t excuse Nikki Haley’s reluctance to answer the question. Furthermore, she, as Governor, represented South Carolina. The FIRST state to secede from the Union! As HotAir’s Ed Morrissey points out, South Carolina made it abundantly clear that their secession was entirely due to slavery. Period. Full. Stop. 

While, with other states it may have been more of economics given the industrial powerhouses in the North, and the issues of states rights overall, South Carolina was very clear that their secession was purely about slavery. 

Yet Nikki Haley wouldn’t give a direct answer all the while knowing the history of HER state! And now she’s engaged in cleanup on Aisle 5. You see, she couldn’t answer the question because a “democrat plant” asked it. 

Nikki Haley can't answer a simple question at a town hall without blaming a "Democrat plant."

How on earth does she plan to take on everything Dems would throw at her in 2024?

If you want to beat the left, @RonDeSantis has proven how to leave the Democratic Party in ruins. https://t.co/UAJEqpO4Sn

— Gloria Taylor (@Glo_Tay) December 28, 2023

Memo to Nikki Haley: If you cannot handle a direct question from a voter (no matter the affiliation) during primary season, how the hell will you manage during the general when questions are going to be way more intense? It looks highly likely like you can’t and won’t. 

Ah. The old “I was answering a completely different question that nobody asked,” defense. https://t.co/RTb988jjGq

— David Marcus (@BlueBoxDave) December 28, 2023

Nikki Haley botched a simple straightforward question regarding slavery. Her blame game after the fact is not a good look.

Feature Photo Credit: Original artwork by Victory Girls Darleen Click