Nikki Haley Offers Up ‘Black Friends’ Defense After Civil War Gaffe
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley on Thursday night tried to defend herself from criticism she received over comments she made about the causes of the Civil War—that infamously failed to mention slavery—by mentioning that she “had Black friends growing up.”
The former South Carolina governor was asked during a CNN town hall about the widely mocked answer she gave to a voter at an event in New Hampshire last month. Moderator Erin Burnett asked Haley about the gaffe, which has become “a challenge” for her campaign in recent weeks, noting that Haley had since acknowledged it was a mistake not to mention slavery.
Reiterating that she should have “said slavery right off the bat,” Haley added: “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.”