Don Lemon blasts Haley’s pleas for ‘grace’ after Civil War comments

Comments by Haley sparked criticism for failing to mention slavery as a cause of the Civil War

Don Lemon slammed Nikki Haley for asking for grace after she didn’t mention slavery as the cause of the American Civil War during a town hall event in New Hampshire on Wednesday.

“Nikki Haley wants grace for using a poor choice of words when, after I misspoke in some comments involving her, she didn’t offer me that same grace,” the former CNN anchor said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

He added, Ms Haley “immediately and very publicly took me to task, and then fundraised off of it.”

Ms Haley made the comments after a voter asked her what she believed the reason for the war was. The first shots in the conflict were fired in South Carolina, where she used to serve as governor. During President Donald Trump’s administration, she also served as US Ambassador to the UN.

Ms Haley chose to focus her comments on the role the US government played at that time.

“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,” Ms Haley said.

When the voter said they were astonished that the former governor did not mention slavery, Ms Haley responded: “What do you want me to say about slavery?”

The presidential candidate attempted to clear up her comments during a radio interview the following day. According to USA Today , she said, “I want to nip it in the bud. Yes, we know the Civil War was about slavery. But more than that, what’s the lesson in all this?”

She continued: “That freedom matters. And individual rights and liberties matter for all people. That’s the blessing of America. That was a stain on America when we had slavery. But what we want is to never relive it. Never let anyone take those freedoms away again.”

Mr Lemon’s response stemmed from remarks he made about Ms Haley in February while working as a CNN anchor.

“Nikki Haley is not in her prime, sorry. A woman is considered to be in her prime in her 20s, 30s and maybe her 40s,” he said, in reference to a comment Ms Haley made about potential “mental competency tests” for politicians over 75.

Ms Haley sent a fundraising email to voters calling Mr Lemon a CNN liberal. He later apologised for the remarks, stating that the comments were “inartful and irrelevant”, but was terminated by the network in April 2023.

Speaking about her Thursday interview, Mr Lemon said, “I’m glad she clarified what she should have said. And, in the spirit of the season, let’s see if her actions match her corrected words moving forward.”