Nikki Haley fumbled in answering a question at a New Hampshire town hall the other day, no doubt — but what made it nonstop news?

Other, that is, than the overwhelming appetite at most media outlets for anything that makes top GOP candidates look bad.

The former South Carolina gov and ex-UN ambassador teed up a word salad when asked about the causes of the Civil War, saying it was about “how government was going to run, the freedoms and what people could and couldn’t do.”

And she failed to say “slavery.”

Her campaign, with considerable evidence, such as the questioner’s over-the-top reaction, suggests the question was a plant, designed to trip her up — which isn’t an excuse, but important context.

As is the swift, hysterical and prolonged outrage.

The New York Times ran the histrionic headline: “When Haley dodged the slavery question, she put her coalition at risk.”

Please.

CNN covered the “story” non-stop. Well into Thursday evening, a full day after her initial remark, its chryon read: “Haley presses on with NH swing amid fallout from Civil War remarks.”

No matter that she’d clarified earlier that day: “Of course the Civil War was about slavery. We know that. That’s the easy part of it. . . . But more than that, what’s the lesson in all this? That freedom matters. And individual rights and liberties matter for all people.”

Or that talking “freedom” in the context of the Civil War is a clear reference to slavery.

No, it was still treated as the biggest story of the day because it was a chance for CNN to try to ding a Republican.

Meanwhile, where’s the breathless, endless coverage of President Biden’s constant misstatements, which range from the laughable (like when he said Queen Latifah had earned herself a “prime-time enemy” instead of “Emmy”) to the deeply concerning (like when he said that Russian President Vladimir Putin was “clearly losing the war in Iraq.”)

And Vice President Kamala Harris (who’s near-certain to become prez all too soon if doddering Joe is re-elected) can barely be trusted to deliver a coherent thought without (and sometimes with) cue cards: She recently called the 2024 election “the most election of our lifetime,” and the media didn’t bat an eye.

Because to do so would be to point out that the Biden-Harris coalition is already “at risk” because a good number of Democrats think he’s lost a step and she isn’t up for the job.

The real issue driving the liberal-media obsession is that Haley is performing strongly in the polls: She’d tromp Biden if the election were held today; GOP-primary frontrunner Donald Trump is tied or just slightly ahead.

So anti-Republican outlets are gunning for her.

This kind of unhinged bias is exactly why Americans’ trust in media is at record lows.

The majority of Americans (55%) see a great deal of bias in political coverage; the media keep proving them right.