Nikki Haley in damage control says ‘of course the Civil War was about slavery’ insisting it’s the ‘easy part’ and claiming a PLANT was sent in to ask the question

Nikki Haley was on housekeeping duty Thursday morning to clarify that her comments about the Civil War did not mention slavery because “that's the easy part.”

The 2024 hopefuls faced a barrage of criticism and hateful comments for answering a question at a New Hampshire town hall about what the Civil War was about without ever mentioning slavery.

She told CNN that she answered the question by putting it in the context of what it means for Americans today.

“Of course the Civil War was about slavery. We know that. That's the easy part of it,” Haley said in a voiceless response to the attacks on her comments.

“What I said was, what does it mean for us today?” said the former United Nations ambassador. “What it means to us today is about freedom. That's what it was all about.'

Nikki Haley cleaned up her City Hall blunder and dropped slavery as the reason for the Civil War by claiming 'that's the easy part' – and suggesting the person who asked the question was a 'plant'

Haley, 51, was immediately criticized for refusing to say slavery was the main cause of the Civil War during a town hall in Berlin, New Hampshire.

Critics include her 2024 Republican competitors, as well as President Joe Biden, who joked on X, formerly Twitter, “It was about slavery.”

The former South Carolina governor also insisted Thursday morning in damage control that the person who sparked the response had been sent like a plant in an attempt to get the media to attack her as her polls in New Hampshire skyrocket.

On Wednesday, she jokingly told the audience member who asked the question, “Well, don't come up with an easy question.”

She then claimed that the Civil War was fought for freedom and ideological differences in how governments should work.

“I think the cause of the civil war was really how the government was going to function, the freedoms of what people could and couldn't do.”

The White House hopeful, currently a distant third behind Donald Trump in the race to become the 2024 Republican presidential nominee, then goes on a tangent about the limits of government overreach and civil liberties.

“I think it always comes down to the role of government and what the rights of the people are, and I will always stand by the fact that I think government was intended to safeguard the rights and freedoms of the people.

“It was never meant to be all things to all people. The government doesn't have to tell you how to live.

'They don't have to tell you what you can and can't do. They don't have to be part of your life. They have to ensure that you have freedom.

'We need capitalism. We need economic freedom. “We need to make sure that we do everything so that individuals have the freedoms, so that they have freedom of speech, freedom of religion and the freedom to do or be whatever they want without government getting in the way.”

She goes off on a tangent and tries to turn the question back on the voter, who tells her he's not the one running for the Oval Office in 2024.

“I think it always comes down to the role of government and what the rights of the people are, and I will always stand by the fact that I think government was intended to secure the rights and freedoms of the people.” , she said.

Haley's refusal to acknowledge this angered many across the political spectrum

Historians generally agree that slavery, and the divided opinions of the Northern and Southern states over whether to abolish it, was the primary cause of the Civil War.

You then hear him say, “In 2023, I find it amazing that you would answer that question without mentioning the word slavery.”

Haley asks him, “What do you want me to say about slavery?” Next question.'

New Hampshire is hosting the nation's second primary — and the first election of the 2024 cycle after the Iowa caucuses — making it important for those vying for the nomination to run for president.

With just 26 days until the Granite State elections, Haley is rising in the polls. The latest shows her trailing former President Donald Trump by just 4 percent, with 29 percent support among Republican voters.

She believes the question asked Wednesday in Berlin, New Hampshire, was a way for the opposition to get the media to attack her amid Surrey's rising numbers.

She made it clear Thursday that she was well aware that slavery was a reason for the Civil War.

Historians generally agree that slavery, and the divided opinions of the Northern and Southern states over whether to abolish it, was the primary cause of the Civil War.

The southern states of the US, including Haley's home state of South Carolina, were pro-slavery, while the northern states were anti-slavery. The South Carolina Proclamation, which laid out the reasons for leaving the Union in 1860, pointed to the “increasing hostility on the part of the non-slaveholding States to the institution of slavery” as the reason for the state to withdraw from the Union to delete.

But Haley's refusal to acknowledge this angered many across the political spectrum.

Donald Trump is currently leading the race for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination – and the ex-president has not ruled out tapping Haley as his running mate

Polls show Haley is now just 4 percentage points behind Trump with just 26 days until the New Hampshire primary on Jan. 23 — and FiveThirtyEight's aggregate data shows Haley could soon overtake Ron DeSantis and take second place nationally level can be reached.

Gov. Ron DeSantis' campaign distributed a video of Haley's exchange in New Hampshire on social media, with the comment “Yikes.”

Meanwhile, the campaign of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, another foe of Haley, circulated a video of the exchange on social media, with the comment, “Yep.”

Issues surrounding the origins of the Civil War and its legacy are still very much part of the fabric of Haley's home state, and she has been pressed about the war's origins before.

When she ran for governor in 2010, Haley, in an interview with a now-defunct activist group then known as The Palmetto Patriots, described the war between two disparate parties fighting for “tradition” and “change,” saying that the Confederate flag was 'not something that is racist.'

During that same campaign, she dismissed the need to drop the flag from the Statehouse grounds, portraying her Democratic rival's push to remove the flag as a desperate political stunt.

Five years later, Haley urged lawmakers to remove the flag from its spot at a Confederate soldiers monument after a mass shooting in which a white gunman killed eight black church members attending the Bible study.

Haley said at the time that the flag was “hijacked” by the gunman from those who saw the flag as a symbol of “sacrifice and heritage.”

Aggregated polling data from FiveThirtyEight shows that nationally, Haley could soon overtake Ron DeSantis to take second place in the race for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.

Despite this, she still has a long way to go to defeat Donald Trump, who currently has 61.2% of Republicans pledged to vote for him.

Even in her home state, Haley lags far behind, with less than half the votes Trump has.

MailOnline has contacted Nikki Haley's presidential campaign for comment.