According to “Morning Joe,” 2024 presidential hopeful Nikki Haley’s now-viral failure to say slavery caused the Civil War signals to a larger race problem within the Republican Party.
“There’s almost no other answer she could give in this Republican primary that wouldn’t take some votes away from her as she’s moving forward,” journalist and panelist on the MSNBC series Eugene Daniels said.
During a New Hampshire campaign stop this week, the former South Carolina governor was asked to state what she believed caused the Civil War. In the days since, her answer has stirred controversy.
Haley argued, “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.”
In her answer, Haley never once mentioned slavery as a cause of the war, and when she was called out by the person who asked the question, she responded, “What do you want me to say about slavery?”
“Morning Joe” cohost Willie Geist said that Haley flipping the question back to the audience “is what stuck with most people as they watch that commentary.”
“Perhaps also about the state of the Republican party,” Geist continued. “As you watch the gears turning there, what she should and should not say, in order to keep her support.”
Daniels agreed. “If you watch the crowd, as things were going downhill, you could start to see people get a little squeamish as she was answering those questions,” he said.
“Obviously, it was about slavery,” Daniels added. “If it was about state rights, it was the state’s ability to hold slaves. If it was about freedoms and what the government could tell you what to do, it was whether or not the government could tell you whether or not you can own, beat, rape and kill people because they were your property.”
“That is clear to everyone who has eyes and has read history books,” Daniels said.
Daniels argued that Haley “is showing the fact that in the Republican Party right now, there is not a lot of room for folks who would say something like that, who would be honest about slavery as the cause and the main cause of the Civil War,” particularly in light of the widespread culture wars on topics like critical race theory.
“This shouldn’t have been hard — slavery is the answer here,” cohost Jonathan Lemire chimed in. “But to Eugene’s point, it is reflective of where the Republican base is right now. You can’t tell a simple truth for fear of losing voters in what has become such a radicalized Republican Party.”
Watch the full “Morning Joe” segment in the video above.
