Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley said Sunday she doesn’t believe the state can secede from the US just days after she appeared to suggest Texas could.
“No, according to the Constitution, they cannot,” Haley, 52, said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
The comments marked a change from an appearance on the “Breakfast Club” radio show last week, where Haley told host Charlamagne Tha God that, “If the whole state says, ‘We don’t want to be part of America anymore,’ I mean, that’s their decision to do.
“Let’s talk about reality. Texas will not secede,” he added.
On Sunday, Haley claimed the statement was misunderstood.
“What I’m saying is that when the government stops listening, let’s remember the state’s rights,” he said. “You need to be as close as possible to the people. Nobody talks about breaking up. That is not an issue at all.”
He pointed to Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s recent assertion that the Lone Star State’s right to defend itself is the supreme law of the land.
Nikki Haley lost to Donald Trump by double digits in Iowa and New Hampshire. Reuters
Abbott has vowed to continue using state resources as well as razor wire along the US-Mexico border in response to what he calls the federal government’s failure to prevent intrusions.
“Texans are upset, and rightfully so,” Haley explained. “Governor Abbott is upset, and rightly so. When have you ever seen a president not support a governor when they are trying to keep their people safe? It’s a real problem.”
Prior to Haley’s statement about secession, Haley had previously caused controversy when she did not mention slavery as the cause of the Civil War.
The backlash to the offense forced him to later say, “Of course, the Civil War was about slavery.”
Haley’s home state of South Carolina, where she served as governor from 2011 to 2017, was the first to secede in 1860 following the victory of President Abraham Lincoln.
Nikki Haley hopes to pick up steam from her home state of South Carolina. Getty Images
The Constitution did not directly mention secession, but following the Union’s victory in the Civil War, the Supreme Court ruled in 1869 in Texas v. White that unilateral secession was not permitted.
Haley is former GOP front-runner Donald Trump’s last heavyweight rival in the race for the party’s nomination.
He had a big performance in his home state of South Carolina on February 24th.
“Why do we do this? Why do we allow ourselves to have two 80-year-olds, who cannot serve eight years, who are both diminished, either in their character or in their mental capacity,” Haley said on CNN.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
