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Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis say the U.S. is not a racist country
As Republican presidential candidates Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis battle for second place in the GOP presidential race behind former President Donald Trump, both said on Tuesday that the U.S. is not a racist country.
When asked if the Republican party is racist during a Fox & Friends interview on Tuesday, Haley said, “No, we’re — we’re not a racist country. Brian. We’ve never been a racist country. Our goal is to make sure that today is better than yesterday. Are we perfect? No, but our goal is to always make sure we try and be more perfect if every day that we can.”
The former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. added that she faced racism growing up “but I can tell you today is a lot better than it was.”
DeSantis was asked if he agreed with Haley’s comments later on Tuesday during a CNN town hall and echoed her sentiment that “the U.S. is not a racist country.”
Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images
When pressed on if the U.S. has ever been a racist country, DeSantis conceded that the U.S. has had “challenges with how race was viewed,” citing the 1857 Dred Scott Supreme Court case, which ruled that African Americans were not American citizens.
In that decision, which was handed down by the nation’s highest court before the Civil War and protected the institution of slavery, Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney wrote that African Americans “had no rights which the white man was bound to respect.”
“That was wrong. That was discriminating on the basis of race. That’s why you ended up having the 14th Amendment ratified to overturn Dred Scott. So yes, we’ve had challenges with how we’ve dealt with race as a society. But we are the — no matter where what your background is. If you have one place you want to grow up and have the most opportunity, it doesn’t matter your background, this is the best place to grow up,” DeSantis said.
It is not the first time that Haley or DeSantis have had to address America’s racial issues on the campaign trail.
Haley received criticism last month when she failed to mention slavery as the cause of the civil war and DeSantis previously defended Florida school curriculum teaching that enslaved people “developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.”
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A food company known for popular grocery store condiments has recalled a package of tortilla strips that may be contaminated with wheat, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Friday. The product is meant to be gluten-free.
Sugar Foods, a manufacturing and distribution corporation focused mainly on various toppings, artificial sweeteners and snacks, issued the recall for the “Santa Fe Style” version of tortilla strips sold by the brand Fresh Gourmet.
“People who have a wheat allergy or severe sensitivity to wheat run the risk of serious or life-threatening allergic reaction if they consume the product,” said Sugar Foods in an announcement posted by the FDA.
Packages of these tortilla strips with an expiration date as late as June 20, 2025, could contain undeclared wheat, meaning the allergen is not listed as an ingredient on the label. The Fresh Gourmet product is marketed as gluten-free.
Sugar Foods said a customer informed the company on Nov. 19 that packages of the tortilla strips actually contained crispy onions, another Fresh Gourmet product normally sold in a similar container. The brand’s crispy onion product does contain wheat, and that allergen is noted on the label.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration
No illnesses tied to the packaging mistake have been reported, according to the announcement from Sugar Foods. However, the company is still recalling the tortilla strips as a precaution. The contamination issue may have affected products distributed between Sept. 30 and Nov. 11 in 22 states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Washington.
Sugar Foods has advised anyone with questions about the recall to contact the company’s consumer care department by email or phone.
CBS News reached out to Sugar Foods for more information but did not receive an immediate reply.
This is the latest in a series of food product recalls affected because of contamination issues, although the others involved harmful bacteria. Some recent, high-profile incidents include an E. coli outbreak from organic carrots that killed at least one person in California, and a listeria outbreak that left an infant dead in California and nine people hospitalized across four different states, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The E. coli outbreak is linked to multiple different food brands while the listeria outbreak stemmed from a line of ready-to-eat meat and poultry products sold by Yu-Shang Foods.
