Christie says Haley ‘knew exactly what she was doing’ in Civil War remarks

Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie said Wednesday that fellow candidate Nikki Haley “knew exactly what she was doing” when she failed to mention slavery as a cause of the Civil War at a town hall last week. '', a moment that sparked widespread criticism from Democrats. So does her primary Republican opponent.

In an interview on “The View,” Christie said he was confident former South Carolina Gov. Haley “is not a racist,” but that she is “trying to be something.” suggested [she’s] do not have. “

Co-host Sunny Hostin said Haley's comments about the Civil War “may have been stupid,” but Christie hit back.

“No, no, Sunny. I have to agree with you. She knew exactly what she was doing,” Christie said.

“Then it's even worse,” Hostin retorted.

Christie hinted her agreement. she is a smart woman. I have known her for 13 years. She's smart and she's not racist. There is no racism in Nikki Haley's body. That's not true. ”

Fellow co-host Whoopi Goldberg stopped when she heard Christie's comment and gently pushed back.

“Okay, I have to say something. She better start working on it because it didn't really turn out that way,” Goldberg said. Hostin added, “She didn't look good.”

“Trying to pretend to be something you're not is never a good thing. Okay, so the Civil War was about change versus tradition, she says. And look, that It was very clear whether that was right or wrong,” Christie said.

“But the tradition was to enslave people,” Goldberg says.

“That's right,” Christie said. “And that's a mistake, and our party was founded on the abolition of slavery. That's why the Republican Party was started.”

Haley's campaign did not respond to requests for comment.

When asked to elaborate on Christie's comments about Haley, a spokesperson for the Christie campaign pointed to a recent town hall appearance in which Christie similarly said that Haley is not a racist, but that she is trying to appease voters. He said he was worrying too much.

“She's smart and knows better. She didn't say that because she's racist. Because she's not…I wouldn't say her reasons for doing it were worse than that.” “It's just as bad and should make everyone worried about her candidacy: She did it because she didn't want to offend anyone by telling the truth,” Christie said in a comment provided by a source. I mentioned it inside. Public Relations Officer.

Mr. Christie's remarks continued as follows: “If she is unwilling to stand up and say that slavery caused the Civil War for fear of offending voters in other parts of the country, and if she is unwilling to stand up and say that Donald Trump is unqualified, If you're afraid to say it, you're offending people who support Donald Trump, and she probably has it in the back of her mind to be vice president or secretary of state, and she won't deny it, so we I have to believe that she is willing to do that…what will happen if she doesn't stand up to the forces within our party that are dragging this country deeper into anger, division, and exhaustion? When not?”