Nikki Haley is trying to manage a political "gaffe." When questioned about the cause of the Civil War at a recent campaign stop in New Hampshire, Haley said the Civil War was ". . . basically how the government was going to run” and “freedoms and what people could and couldn't do." Since then, Ms. Haley has "admitted" the the Civil War was about slavery. But the the damage was done. Purposefully.
The "politically correct" walk-back of the original comment is the classic Old School traditional Republican racist dogwhistle, v.2023 (see "Lee Atwater" re: the origins of Republican racist political dog whistling). Haley's version is the classic form of the art. It is not Trumpian in its tone. Still, it is dangerous, callous, and, again, purposeful.
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