- “No one is going to do that,” she said in an effort to clear up comments
- It said: “States have the right to make the decisions their people wish to make.”
- The former governor of South Carolina had previously been angered by his comments about the Civil War
The country's Civil War legacy has once again surfaced in Nikki Haley's presidential campaign – this time, in an attempt to clear up an odd comment, she took a laissez-faire position on Texas' secession from the union.
The South Carolina alum backtracked, previously commenting that states have the right to “make the decisions their people want to make” and that if Texas wants to secede, “they can do that.”
She denied the matter in an interview with Fox News Digital on Thursday.
“It’s not about secession.” Nobody will do that. People don't talk about that. They’re talking about why the president isn’t there keeping Texans safe,” she said.
She spoke amid anger over the border crisis and a test of will and jurisdiction already before the Supreme Court.
If you don't secede first: Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley responded to comments in which she said Texas “can do it” after she was asked if the state could secede from the union
The Supreme Court has allowed the federal government to remove barbed wire installed by the Texas Guard at the direction of the state's governor, Gregg Abbott. The Biden administration sought permission from the Border Patrol to cut razor wire along a stretch along the Rio Grande where there have been border deaths.
Haley made her original comments to interviewer Charlamagne Tha God on “The Breakfast Club.”
He asked her about the secession of Texas – an idea with roots going back to the 20th century – in the context of the border dispute.
“If Texas decides, that's what they want to do.” “They can,” Haley replied.
“If this entire state says, ‘We don’t want to be part of America anymore,’ then that’s my decision. But I don't think the government needs to tell people how to live or do anything. “I mean, I think we have to let freedom live,” she said.
“I think states have the right to make the decisions that their people want to make,” she said.
Her interviewer asked whether she would use force as president if Texas tried to secede over the border issue. “I believe in states' rights.” “I believe that everything should be as close to the people as possible,” she said.
War of Words: Haley botched a question about the causes of the Civil War while campaigning in New Hampshire. She later admitted “of course” that it was about slavery
It comes amid a tense conflict between the federal government and Texas over authority over the border
The incident came just over a month after Haley gave a bizarre answer when asked why before the Civil War, and she gave a long answer in which she left out slavery entirely.
“What should I say about slavery?” She told the man who asked her about it in New Hampshire, a man her team later accused of being a plant. She allowed herself to be annoyed by her main rivals at the time, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, and then cleaned up that comment.
“Of course the Civil War was about slavery,” she said.
Her failure to secede comes as Haley campaigns in her home state, despite trailing former President Donald Trump by double digits there. She still does national fundraisers and regularly does national interviews on cable television.