Christie says Haley is not racist after Civil War comments. Here's the problem he sees
WASHINGTON – Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie condemned former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley for failing to mention that slavery caused the Civil War, saying she’s unwilling to offend anyone by telling the truth.
Haley has faced backlash from both her Democratic and Republican rivals after a voter asked her in a New Hampshire town hall Wednesday what caused the Civil War, and she neglected to say slavery.
She attempted to walk back her comments Thursday, saying in an interview, “Of course, the Civil War was about slavery. We know that. That's the easy part.”
Christie said in a New Hampshire town hall Thursday that Haley “didn’t say what she said last night and today about this because she’s dumb.”
“She’s not, she’s smart and she knows better. And she didn’t say it because she’s a racist because she’s not,” Christie said. “I know her well and I don’t believe Nikki has a racist bone in her body. But for purposes (of) this race, the reason she did it is just as bad, if not worse, and should make everybody concerned about her candidacy. She did it because she’s unwilling to offend anyone by telling the truth.”
Christie argued that if Haley is unwilling to say slavery is what caused the Civil War “because she’s afraid of offending constituents,” then she won’t have the backbone to stand up to Democratic lawmakers, foreign leaders and forces in her own party dragging the country “deeper and deeper into anger and division.”
He pointed to her 2010 remarks about the Civil War, where she said one side was fighting for tradition and another was fighting for change.
“I’m sure Nikki will see this, so I want to talk directly to her, OK? The Civil War was not a choice between change and tradition,” Christie said. “It was a choice between right and wrong, and that’s it, and we got to stand on the side of right.”