Nikki Haley says she "should have said slavery" in Civil War answer, expands on pardoning Trump in Iowa town hall

GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley says now that she should have mentioned slavery when she was asked about the cause of the Civil War last week.

At a CNN town hall in Iowa Thursday, days before Iowans caucus in the first GOP presidential nominating contest, Haley told moderator Erin Burnett, "I should have said slavery, but in my mind, that's a given that everybody associates the Civil War with slavery." The former South Carolina governor was asked by Burnett to respond to opponent Chris Christie's criticism that her answer stemmed not from being "dumb or racist," but from an unwillingness to offend anyone by telling the truth. 

When she was asked last Wednesday in New Hampshire what caused the Civil War, Haley responded that she thought the cause "was basically how government was going to run, the freedoms, and what people could and couldn't do." Democrats and Republicans like Christie were quick to seize upon her response.