Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley said Thursday that she “has black friends” as part of her response to follow-up questions about her previous comments about the Civil War.

Haley appeared on “CNN Town Hall” and talked about her 2024 campaign while answering questions from voters. CNN host Erin Burnett asked about the former South Carolina governor's response to fellow presidential candidate Chris Christie's comments, saying she “didn't mean to offend anyone” with her response about the causes of the Civil War. .

Haley denied that she wanted to “offend” people, but said she should have brought up slavery in her response to the question. Haley went on to say that she had “black friends” growing up in South Carolina, which she emphasized has a “huge history” with slavery. (Related article: Nikki Haley trails Trump in polls, says New Hampshire will 'fix' Iowa caucus results)

“No one ever said I didn't mean to offend. I offend a lot of people because I blame people when they do something wrong. What I want to say is, Chris “Christie is from New Jersey. She should have said something about slavery right away,” Haley said.

“But growing up, literally in second and third grade in South Carolina, you learn about slavery. Growing up, I had friends who were black. It's something that's very topical. South Carolina. has a huge history with slavery and the Civil War and all these other things. I was done with it — I was thinking about slavery and talking about the lessons we're going to learn. That kind of thing. I shouldn't have done that.”

While campaigning in New Hampshire, Haley was once asked by a voter about the causes of the Civil War. The former South Carolina governor received a wave of backlash after video footage showed her reacting without ever mentioning slavery and condemning “the way the government is run.” (Related: Trump World slams Nikki Haley after video resurfaces of her telling Americans not to call illegal immigrants 'criminals')

Haley later recanted her statement, admitting she should have mentioned slavery. Gover also questioned whether the voters who asked the question were “Democrats.”