'Civil War' Becomes a Key Issue in US Presidential Election... Biden Joins Trump in Engagement

In the U.S. presidential election, the Civil War has emerged as a key issue surrounding voter sentiment. Following Republican presidential candidates former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley and former President Donald Trump, President Joe Biden has also entered the Civil War controversy.

On the 8th (local time), President Biden stated at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, "Slavery was the cause of the Civil War. There is no room for negotiation on this." He continued, "There are those in this country who try to hide defeat with lies," adding, "This time, it is lies about the 2020 election."

President Joe Biden of the United States
[Photo by Yonhap News]

This is interpreted as a criticism likening the claim of former President Trump's victory in the 2020 election to the Southern Confederacy's defeat in the Civil War being framed as a 'cause' war for rights.

In response, former Ambassador Haley, a Republican presidential candidate, sharply criticized President Biden, saying he has no right to preach. She pointed out, "Anyone from South Carolina who associated with separatists in the 1970s and made racist remarks should not preach about racism, slavery, or the Civil War." This appears to refer to criticism of Biden for opposing the 1970s school bus integration policy during the 2020 election period and seemingly defending two separatist senators he worked with during his Senate tenure.

Earlier, in December last year, former UN Ambassador Haley, when asked about the cause of the Civil War during a campaign, responded, "Basically, it is a matter of how the government is run," avoiding direct mention of slavery. Haley is a former governor of South Carolina, the Southern state that was the first to secede from the Union in protest of President Abraham Lincoln's inauguration.

This led to criticism that Haley's answer resembled the historical perspective of Southern revisionists, who argue that the South fought not to maintain slavery but against excessive federal government control. Haley admitted her mistake by saying, "Of course, the Civil War was about slavery," but added, "It was also about individual freedom."

Then, on the 6th, former President Trump said during a campaign rally in Iowa about the Civil War, "Honestly, there were things that could have been negotiated, and I think negotiations could have happened," adding, "If negotiations had happened, you might not know who Lincoln was, but that's okay." This implies that former President Lincoln is known only for the Civil War.

In response, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, competing for the Republican presidential nomination, criticized former President Trump, saying, "Lincoln started the abolition of slavery and saved the Union." However, CNN pointed out that Governor DeSantis previously sparked controversy by downplaying Black history in Florida's education curriculum.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.