President Joe Biden used one phrase Monday to hit both former President Donald Trump and his rival Nikki Haley for comments they recently made about the Civil War.
Biden traveled to Charleston where he appeared at the historic Mother Emanuel AME Church, as he tries to shore up his 2024 support with black voters.
While at one point, he was interrupted by pro-Palestinian protesters shouting ‘ceasefire now,’ he was also awarded with cheers when he called Trump a ‘loser’ and chants of ‘four more years.’
‘So let me be clear for those who don’t seem to know: Slavery was the cause of the Civil War,’ Biden said, earning applause. ‘There was no negotiation about that.’
Last month, Haley – the former governor of South Carolina – stepped in it when she didn’t mention slavery when a New Hamsphire town hall attendee asked her what caused the Civil War.
President Joe Biden hit both former President Donald Trump and former U.N. Amb. Nikki Haley for their recent comments about the Civil War on the campaign trail
Last month, 2024 hopeful Haley didn’t mention slavery when a New Hampshire town hall attendee asked her about the cause of the Civil War
‘Well don’t come with an easy question or anything,’ Haley told the town hall attendee.
‘I mean I think the cause of the Civil War was basically how government was going to run, the freedoms and what people could and couldn’t do,’ Haley then answered.
Haley asked the man for his opinion on what started the Civil War and he then commented that he found it ‘astonishing’ in 2023 that she wouldn’t mention the word ‘slavery.’
‘What do you want me to say about slavery?’ Haley then said.
On Saturday, Trump waded in, telling supporters at a campaign stop in Newton, Iowa that he believed the Civil War was ‘something that could’ve been negotiated.’
‘The Civil War was so fascinating, so horrible,’ Trump said. ‘I’m so attracted to seeing it. So many mistakes were made. See there was something that could’ve been negotiated, to be honest with you, I think you could have negotiated that.’
He added that President Abraham Lincoln ‘if he negotiated it, you probably wouldn’t even know who Abraham Lincoln was.’
On Saturday, former President Donald Trump told supporters in Newton, Iowa that the Civil War could have been ‘negotiated’
‘He would have been president … but he wouldn’t be “the” Abraham Lincoln, but that would’ve been OK,’ Trump added.
Trump spent several moments remarking about the terrible death toll – estimated to be 620,000.
‘So many people died. That was the disaster. If you got hit by a bullet in the leg, you were essentially going to die or lose the leg, that’s why you had so many people – no legs, no arms … because the infection, gangrene – it was just such, sort of a horrible time.’
He added that it was a ‘vicious, vicious war’ and a ‘tough one for our country.’
So far, of the three top Republican candidates, only Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has remained unscathed in the Civil War controversy.
‘I don’t even know how to judge – I don’t even know what he’s talking about,’ DeSantis told ABC News Sunday, responding to Trump’s comments at an Iowa campaign stop. ‘Lincoln did what he had to do, he ended up ushering the abolition of slavery and he saved the union.’