Don Lemon Blasts Nikki Haley for Wanting 'Grace' After Her Town Hall Civil War Comments

Former CNN host Don Lemon took aim at GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley, criticizing her for seeking "grace" after her recent "poor choice of words" regarding the civil war.

Lemon pointed out the irony of Haley's request, as she did not extend the same courtesy to him when he "misspoke" about her in the past.

The controversy surrounding Haley began during a town hall event in New Hampshire on Wednesday night.

When asked about the cause of the Civil War, Haley responded, "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."

She neglected to mention slavery as a significant factor. The man posing the question expressed his astonishment that Haley would answer without addressing slavery.

Despite the backlash, Haley stood by her response. Since then, she has faced criticism from both Democrats and Republicans. Even her GOP primary opponents joined in the condemnation.

Lemon, who was terminated from CNN in April, shared his thoughts on Haley's current situation. He highlighted her past criticism of him, particularly accusing him of being "sexist." The 57-year-old host pointed out that Haley not only berated him but also used the incident to raise campaign funds.

Lemon wrote on Twitter, "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, immediately and very publicly took me to task, and then fundraised off of it."

However, Lemon extended an olive branch by expressing his gladness that Haley clarified her statement. He also called upon her to match her corrected words with actions in the future.

The hypocrisy of Haley's request for grace after her comments on the civil war was also called out by several users on X, formerly known as Twitter.

One user shared a clip of the town hall and wrote, "You can't call Nikki Haley's civil war slavery stuff a 'gaffe' because she carefully chose her words. She had a seven-second wind-up for that b------."

Another user commented, "The woman asking for 'grace' is also the same one who had been non-stop in every debate calling Vivek a slew of names. Warranted or not, where was 'grace' then, Nikki???"

A third user shared, "When Nikki Haley says the civil war was caused by the government interfering in people's freedom: Their freedom to do what Nikki? THEIR FREEDOM TO DO WHAT?!?"

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Former Governor of New Jersey and presidential hopeful Chris Christie also criticized Haley's answer during his own town hall, telling the crowd, "If she's unwilling to stand up and say that slavery is what caused the civil war because she's afraid of offending constituents in some other parts of the country. If she's afraid to say that Donald Trump is unfit...What's going to happen when she has to stand up to Vladimir Putin and President Xi?"