Last night Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley said the U.S. Civil War was not about slavery but about other things–and got short when challenged on it: "What do you want me to say about slavery? Next question."
Voter: "What was the cause of the United States Civil War?"
Haley: "Don't come with an easy question, right? I mean, I think the cause of the Civil War was basically how government was gonna run — the freedoms and what people could and couldn't do. What do you think the cause of the Civil War was?"
Voter: "I'm not running for president."
Haley: "I mean, I think it always comes down to the role of government. 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."
Voter: "In the year 2023, it's astonishing to me that you can answer that question without mentioning the word 'slavery.'"
Haley: "What do you want me to say about slavery? Next question."
This has been a theme of Haley's view of history for a long time; in the past she's insisted the Civil War was about the South "fighting for tradition", defended flying the Confederate flag, all the classics.
Last week the New York Times anointed Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley as the moderate choice in the primary race. The important thing to understand about that is not what it says about Haley or about moderate Republicans, but how little reality matters in casting characters.
Update: Haley admits Civil War had something to do with slavery.
