Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and the political action committee (PAC) supporting Donald Trump, a leading Republican presidential candidate, recently criticized Nikki Haley for her problematic response regarding the Civil War. Both parties concur that Haley is not yet prepared for the high-stakes political environment, commonly referred to as “prime time.”
DeSantis and the MAGA PAC, supporting Trump, both used the term “not ready for prime time” to describe Haley. This criticism arose after Haley, during a town hall in New Hampshire, omitted mentioning slavery as a key factor of the Civil War.
In a statement released on Thursday, Trump’s MAGA PAC expressed their viewpoint bluntly: “Nikki Haley is struggling. Her inability to acknowledge that the Civil War was about slavery, and her confusion over Dubuque’s location, demonstrates her lack of readiness. She even suggested that the Civil War question was a ‘plant,’ but the real issue lies in her response.”
Governor DeSantis also shared his thoughts on Thursday, describing Haley’s attempt to clarify her position as “incomprehensible word salad.” He suggested that Haley has not faced substantial scrutiny until now and tends to falter under pressure. “Identifying the role of slavery in the Civil War shouldn’t be difficult, yet Haley struggled with this,” DeSantis added.
Attempting to address her earlier comments, Haley stated on Thursday that the Civil War was indeed “about slavery.” She claimed her response during the town hall was influenced by a question from a “Democrat plant.”
At the Berlin, New Hampshire town hall on Wednesday night, Haley did not explicitly mention “slavery” in her response to a voter’s question. Instead, she remarked, “the cause of the Civil War was basically about how government was going to run — the freedoms and what people could and couldn’t do.”
DeSantis’ War Room account posted a critical “Yikes” late Wednesday night in response to Haley’s comments.
Florida Representative Byron Donalds, who endorses Trump for the GOP nomination, also commented on Haley’s statement. “1. Psst Nikki… the answer is slavery PERIOD. 2. This really doesn’t matter because Trump is going to be the nominee. Trump 2024!” Donalds wrote on a social platform.
The New Hampshire primary is scheduled for January 23.
