Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley stated Thursday she “had Black friends” as part of her response to a follow up question about her previous comments on the Civil War.
Haley appeared on “CNN Town Hall” to discuss her campaign for 2024 by answering questions from voters. CNN host Erin Burnett asked the former South Carolina governor her response to comments from fellow presidential candidate Chris Christie, stating she was “unwilling to offend anyone” in regards to her response about the cause of the Civil War.
Haley stated that while she denies being “unwilling to offend” people, she noted she should have brought up slavery in her response to the question. Haley continued, saying growing up in South Carolina she had “Black friends,” emphasizing the state had a “big history” when it came to slavery. (RELATED: Nikki Haley Says New Hampshire Will ‘Correct’ Iowa Caucus Results As She Trails Trump In Polls)
“No one’s ever said that I am unwilling to offend. I offend plenty of people because I call people out when they do something wrong. What I will tell you is Chris Christie is from New Jersey. I should have said slavery right off the bat,” Haley stated.
“But if you grow up in South Carolina, literally in second and third grade, you learn about slavery. You grow up and you have, you know, I had Black friends growing up. It is a very talked about thing. We have a big history in South Carolina when it comes to you know, slavery, when it comes to all the things that happened with the Civil War, all that. I was over — I was thinking past slavery, and talking about the lesson that we would learn going forward. I shouldn’t have done that.”
Haley was formerly asked by a voter during a campaign stop in New Hampshire about the cause of the Civil War. The former South Carolina governor received a wave of backlash after video footage showed her response blaming “how the government was run,” never mentioning slavery. (RELATED: Trump World Hits Nikki Haley Over Resurfaced Clip Of Her Telling Americans Not To Call Illegal Immigrants ‘Criminals’)
Haley later backtracked her statements, admitting she should have mentioned slavery. However, she additionally questioned if the voter who asked the question had been a “Democrat plant.”