Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said states, including Texas, have the right to secede from the United States should they so choose, a position that bucks more than 150 years of legal precedent.
And it's not the first time she has asserted such a thing.
Haley made the comments Wednesday during an interview that centered on Texas' ongoing border dispute with the federal government. Haley was asked if she would use force as president to prevent Texas from seceding.
"I believe in states' rights," she said on "The Breakfast Club" podcast. "I believe that everything should be as close to the people to decide. We know that's not going to happen, that's not the issue. I think states have the right to make the decisions that their people want to make."
She added, "If that whole state says we don't want to be part of America anymore, I mean, that's their decision to make, but I don't think government needs to tell people how to live, how to do anything. I mean, I think that we need to let freedom live."
Haley said in 2010 that the U.S. Constitution gives states the right to secede.
However, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1869 that the U.S. is "an indestructible union." In Texas v. White, the court ruled that "When Texas became one of the United States, she entered into an indissoluble relation."
Haley is running a distant second to GOP front-runner Donald Trump for the Republican presidential nomination but has vowed to stay in the race through Super Tuesday on March 5. She is not on the ballot for the Nevada caucuses next week, ceding every delegate to Trump there. She's also trailing Trump by 26 points ahead of her home state primary on Feb. 24.
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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