White House hopeful Nikki Haley came under fire after she seemed to flub a response to a voter during a New Hampshire town hall event.

The former United Nations ambassador appeared unprepared for a question about the cause of the U.S. Civil War, a subject a former governor of South Carolina should probably know something about.

The fact that Haley’s word salad response did not even include a mention of slavery drew immediate criticism from Democrats and supporters of her 2024 GOP rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

WATCH: A voter asks Nikki Haley “what was the cause of the Civil War?” and Haley inexplicably does not mention slavery in her response.

“The cause of the Civil War was basically how government was going to run. The freedoms and what people could and couldn’t do.”

After hearing… pic.twitter.com/6swl0zJGBy

— DeSantis War Room 🐊 (@DeSantisWarRoom) December 28, 2023

“I think the cause of the Civil War was basically how government was going to run,” Haley said at the event in Berlin, N.H. “The freedoms and what people could and couldn’t do.”

“I think it always comes down to the role of government and what the rights of the people are,” Haley added. “And I will always stand by the fact that I think government was intended to secure the rights and freedoms of the people.”

The presidential hopeful went on to mention capitalism and First Amendment rights in her rambling response.

“It was never meant to be all things to all people,” she continued. “Government doesn’t need to tell you how to live your life. They don’t need to tell you what you can and can’t do. They don’t need to be a part of your life. They need to make sure that you have freedom.

“We need to have capitalism. We need to have economic freedom. We need to make sure that we do all things so that individuals have the liberties so that they can have freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom to do or be anything they want to be without government getting in the way,” Haley concluded.

The voter asking the question essentially reacted for everyone when responding it was “astonishing” to hear Haley reply “without mentioning the word slavery.”

“What do you want me to say about slavery?” the former governor fired back, making the moment even worse. “Next question.”

“You’ve answered my question,” the man replied.

“What do you want me to say about slavery?”

I think she mistook him for a Super PAC donor. https://t.co/aCNL1olSQi

— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) December 28, 2023

It was “a giant mess of her own making.,” according to DeSantis press secretary Bryan Griffith while DeSantis’ rapid response coordinator, Christina Pushaw, called out Haley’s “word-salad” response but also targeted “conservative media personalities” for ignoring the gaffe in an effort “not to make her look stupid with her own words.”

Former President Trump has made no formal announcement about Haley or any other Republican as his potential running mate.

Pay attention to the conservative media personalities refusing to mention (or deleting posts) about @NikkiHaley’s latest word-salad regarding the Civil War. They know Trump wants Haley as his running mate, so they’re under orders not to make her look stupid with her own words. https://t.co/LddK7wqxJ6

— Christina Pushaw 🐊 🇺🇸 (@ChristinaPushaw) December 28, 2023

Many speculated that Haley may have just blown up her campaign.

Democrats, unsurprisingly, took aim at the GOP hopeful.

It was about slavery. https://t.co/q9bTDvtPne

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) December 28, 2023

Sorry, @NikkiHaley. The Civil War was about slavery. Period. https://t.co/irrrSPY1g4

— Dean Phillips (@deanbphillips) December 28, 2023

“Time to take off the rose colored Nikki Haley glasses folks,” Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison wrote on X after saying her answer was “not stunning if you were a Black resident in [South Carolina] when she was Governor.”