Nikki Haley accuses ‘The View’ Host Sunny Hostin of Being Rascist
Although this may or may not be the case, former South Carolina governor and current diplomat Nikki Haley took notice of the ABC chat show on Tuesday after host Sunny Hostin questioned the first name Haley has used since infancy.
The daughter of Indian Punjabi Sikh immigrants, Republican politician Nimrata Nikki Randhawa served as governor of South Carolina from 2011 to 2017 before being appointed ambassador to the United Nations by President Trump. On Tuesday’s episode of “The View,” she was mentioned as co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin was listing possible Republican contenders for president in 2024.
To rephrase the question: “What is her real name again?” Hostin said, adding that in her opinion Haley could be a more “authentic” candidate if she “lean into” her ancestry.
According to Farah Griffin, “So, Nikki Haley’s gone by Nikki since she was a child, It’s documented in high school. I wouldn’t be shocked that somebody, an Indian woman growing up in South Carolina at that time, she actually did that to avoid prejudice.”
“There are some of us that can be chameleons and decide not to embrace our ethnicity so that we can pass,” Hostin said in response.
A concerned Sara Haines spoke at this point, saying, “Sunny, I don’t think that’s fair, you go by a different name!”
Hostin, who was born Asunción Cummings, agreed with that assessment, saying, “That’s because most Americans can’t pronounce Asunción because of the under-education in our society.”
“I’m just going to kill this conversation. I am authentically myself. I am Whoopi Goldberg. I will be right back,”. Another co-host (whose given name was Caryn Elaine Johnson) cut off the conversation by saying, “I will be right back.”
The damage, however, had already been done. Haley learned of the encounter and responded angrily on Twitter:
“Thanks for your concern @Sunny,” she wrote. “It’s racist of you to judge my name. Nikki is an Indian name and is on my birth certificate — and I’m proud of that. What’s sad is the left’s hypocrisy towards conservative minorities. By the way, last I checked Sunny isn’t your birth name … .”
A fair interpretation may be “What’s her real name again?”