Former ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley’s comment about the Civil War has stirred controversy as she continues her bid to win the Republican presidential nomination. Her failure to answer what should have been an easy question about what prompted the war between the North and South has garnered national criticism – especially from her primary opponents.

When asked by a voter about the forces leading to the war, Haley seemed to deflect from the role slavery played in the matter.

On a cringe scale of 0 to 10, this is a 563. Hey @NikkiHaley: no need to phone a friend or consult Super PAC puppet masters when a one-word answer would suffice. Her fear of answering truthfully is just....bizarre. pic.twitter.com/Kx5uhgu4HY

— Stefan Mychajliw (@StefanMychajliw) December 28, 2023

She later clarified her remarks and even suggested that the question was a setup put on by Democrats trying to derail her campaign. This deflection only made the situation worse. But the ultimate question is: How will this gaffe affect her chances of securing the nomination?

The situation does not seem to have deterred her supporters in Iowa despite the slavery SNAFU.

People backing Nikki Haley for president say they are unconcerned about the lingering Civil War controversy surrounding her campaign.

On Dec. 27, the former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. found herself in the headlines for an answer she gave to a question at a campaign event in New Hampshire about the cause of the U.S. Civil War.

Ms. Haley attracted criticism for omitting slavery in her answer. She clarified her remarks the following day, saying “of course” the conflict from 1861 to 1865 “was about slavery.”

Susan Lacy, an undecided voter from Mt. Vernon, Iowa, said she thought Ms. Haley’s answer was “inartful” but “she wasn’t wrong.”

The same seems to hold true in New Hampshire as well.

Republican voters in New Hampshire seemed poised to give Nikki Haley a pass after she declined to identify slavery as a cause of the Civil War at a New Hampshire town hall Wednesday night.

Appearing at the former U.N. ambassador’s events the next day, several attendees said the remarks were overblown. Some were willing to adopt the Haley campaign’s explanation that it was a set up by Democrats to elevate her primary opponent, Donald Trump.

“That was a pile of bullsh*t. Okay, there was somebody planted in that audience, in my opinion,” said Robin Smith, a Republican from Bridgewater. “It had to be somebody that wanted to try to make her look bad.”

Haley was “dead on,” Becky Turner, a Republican from Lincoln, said. “They made a mountain out of a molehill.”

The primaries in Iowa and New Hampshire are steadily approaching, and it might still be too early to tell whether the flub will affect Haley in the polls. But the latest FiveThirtyEight poll of Iowa primary voters shows Haley at 15.7 percent support, only a hair below three points behind Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who remains in second place.

In New Hampshire, Haley fares even better, in second place with 25.7 percent support, leading former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who is in third place with 11.1 percent support.

In the wider context of the 2024 primaries, Haley’s Civil War gaffe does not seem to have done much, if any, damage to the momentum she has built over the past month. However, looming large over the race is former President Donald Trump, who maintains a healthy lead over the rest of the field in both Iowa and New Hampshire. The race is still Trump’s to win, assuming no major event occurs that derails his candidacy. However, it is still early in the process and anything can still happen.