OWN GOAL: Nikki Haley declines to say slavery was cause of Civil War.

The former UN Ambassador and South Carolina governor, who has seen her star rise in the first-in-the-nation primary state, was appearing at a town hall event in Berlin, New Hampshire, when a voter asked her to identify the cause of the war.

“I think the cause of the Civil War was basically how government was going to run,” she responded. “The freedoms and what people could and couldn’t do. What do you think the cause of the Civil War was or argument?”

The questioner, who could not be easily heard off camera, was apparently unpersuaded by Haley’s response. When she asked him what he believed the cause of the war was, he replied that he wasn’t running for president.

“I think it always comes down to the role of government and what the rights of the people are,” Haley replied. “And I will always stand by the fact that I think government was intended to secure the rights and freedoms of the people. It was never meant to be all things to all people. Government doesn’t need to tell you how to live your life. They don’t need to tell you what you can and can’t do. They don’t need to be a part of your life. They need to make sure that you have freedom. 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.”

When the questioner said it was “astonishing” to hear her respond “without mentioning the word slavery,” Haley replied: “What do you want me to say about slavery?” She then asked for the next question.

The exchange, which took place roughly an hour and a half into the town hall event, underscored the unique nature and customary pitfalls that often await candidates in New Hampshire, where direct exchanges with voters are the norm.

Despite Biden’s even worse statements on this issue, whoever is running the (p)resident’s social media account was quick to highlight Haley’s gaffe:

UPDATE: Haley is now blaming a “Democratic plant” for her gaffe last night:

Having the president’s comms team put the spotlight on you will certainly slow the news cycle shifting, particularly during the media’s holiday “silly season” period when journalists are desperate for something, anything juicy to occupy the news. Why did Haley give them such a story?

Ed Morrissey adds: “Most conservatives would agree that ‘government doesn’t need to tell you how to live your life,’ and it largely didn’t at that time — except where state governments kept people in slavery:”

The real question here is: why can’t Haley just say, “Slavery”? It really is an easy question and a one-word answer. And the reason is that conservatives have been pandering to the Lost Cause fantasy of the Confederacy for far too long, hoping to avoid alienating its adherents. Haley may be worried that South Carolina primary voters don’t want to hear a straightforward and honest answer, or perhaps more simply, that she doesn’t want to give those voters an excuse to flip back to Trump on this pretext. Not exactly a “Profiles in Courage” moment for Haley, or even a “Profiles in Reality” moment.

In the above clip, CNN’s commentators shrug off any damage from this exchange to Haley. They may be right in terms of her electoral performance in South Carolina, but I’m not sure that will just get shrugged off similarly by voters in Iowa or New Hampshire. Haley didn’t have much chance of winning either state before this, and while this may not damage her, it certainly doesn’t help — especially for a candidate who’s been bragging about her five-inch combat heels for the last few months to sell herself as the toughest candidate on the ballot.

At NRO, Jeffrey Blehar describes this as essentially a Kinsley gaffe by Haley: “We can be told the Civil War was about slavery, Nikki — we’re all adults here. Few politicians look good when caught nakedly pandering in public, but Nikki Haley wears the look witheringly poorly — it knocks out one of the key underlying struts currently upholding her fragile public brand. That’s why this little gaffe, however minor, memorably reveals something about Haley; we rarely get such accidental insight into how little politicians think of their own voters.”

(Updated and bumped.)