Nikki Haley

[[Image:Official Photo of SC Governor Nikki Haley.jpg|thumb|right|165px|Nikki Haley.]]{{uspolitics}}[[Nikki Haley]] (born '''Nimrata Randhawa''') {{lived|1972}} is the former governor of [[South Carolina]], former Ambassador to the [[United Nations]] under President [[Donald Trump]], and a candidate for the GOP presidential nomination in 2024. A member of the [[Republican Party]], she was ushered into the governor's 
doublewide
 mansion in 2010 as a [[Tea Party]] darling to replace [[family values]] promoter (and "Naked Hiking Day" enthusiast<ref>[https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/The-Vote/2009/0623/sanford-disappears-to-hike-appalachian-trail-on-naked-hiking-day Sanford disappears to hike Appalachian Trail (on Naked Hiking Day)] by Jimmy Orr (June 23, 2009 ) ''The Christian Science Monitor''.</ref>) [[Mark Sanford]] and won re-election in 2014. (It has been a while since [[the South]] was [[Dixiecrat|blue]].)

She comes from a background of [[India]]n [[Sikhism|Sikh]] immigrant parents.

==Response to Emanuel A.M.E. Church shooting==
Possibly due to significant pressure from reasonable people across the [[United States]], Haley called for the removal of the [[Confederate flag]] &mdash; more accurately, the Battle Flag of the Army of Northern Virginia &mdash; from the state's capitol grounds in Columbia. Haley called the flag a symbol of [[racism]] in the wake of the June 2015 Emanuel A.M.E. Church massacre in Charleston, where nine parishioners were killed by a [[white supremacist]].<ref>[http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/22/politics/nikki-haley-confederate-flag-south-carolina-press-conference/index.html Nikki Haley calls for removal of Confederate flag from capitol grounds]</ref> While the state legislature debated, [[North Carolina]] activist Bree Newsome climbed the pole where the flag was flying on the lawn in front of the South Carolina Statehouse and took it down.<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2015/06/27/woman-takes-down-confederate-flag-in-front-of-south-carolina-statehouse Woman takes down Confederate flag in front of South Carolina statehouse]</ref> On July 9<sup>th</sup>, 2015, a two-thirds majority of state legislators voted for the flag to be removed from the state house grounds permanently and placed on display in a museum.<ref>[http://www.wistv.com/story/29510342/live-coverage-gov-nikki-haley-signs-bill-to-remove-confederate-flag Gov. Nikki Haley signs bill to remove Confederate flag]</ref>

==Confederate flag at the state capitol==
In Haley's [[Historical revisionism|retelling of history]], she was the governor who removed [[Confederate]] symbolism from the state capitol. She falsely claimed that she had not done it sooner because even [[Democrats]], including [[African Americans]], had pushed back ''against'' its removal.<ref>''With All Due Respect: Defending America with Grit and Grace'' by Nikki Haley (2019) St. Martin's Press. ISBN 1250266556.</ref><ref name=kranish>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/05/27/nikki-haley-confederate-flag-charleston Nikki Haley let the Confederate flag fly until a massacre forced her hand: She told Confederate groups that flag was about “heritage,” and her campaign said efforts to remove it from the State House grounds were “desperate and irresponsible”] by Michael Kranish (May 27, 2023 at 6:00 a.m. EDT) ''The Washington Post''.</ref> The reality was that going back to at least 2010, she was pandering to [[white nationalist]]s ("I will work to talk to them about the heritage and how this is not something that is racist."), essentially claiming that she shared their [[worldview]].<ref name=kranish/><ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0sW16Q-TtQ&t=3s Missing part of Haley Interview discussing the Confederate Flag.] (Jun 17, 2010) ''YouTube''.</ref> The reality of getting elected to statewide office in South Carolina is that one has to either be a white nationalist or at least pander to white nationalists.<ref name=kranish/> After Haley was elected governor in 2011, she continued to meet with and assure [[neo-Confederate]] groups that the flag would not be moved or removed, going so far as claiming that [[Tokenism|simply because she was elected governor]] the damage to South Carolina economy from the ongoing [[NAACP]] [[boycott]] had been repaired ("We really kind of fixed all that when you elected the first Indian-American female governor.")<ref name=kranish/><ref>[https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/02/nikki-haley-2016-south-carolina-213657/ The Mainstreaming of Nikki Haley: Elected as an outsider, she has become the face of the GOP establishment.] by Jeremy Markovich (February 20, 2016) ''Politico''.</ref> Even after a neo-Confederate murdered nine African Americans in a Charleston church, Haley did not take the lead in calling for the removal of the flag; that leadership was within the state legislature.<ref name=kranish/>

==Support for hate groups==
During Haley's run for president in 2023, she said in an interview on [[Fox News]], "If @Moms4Liberty is a 'hate group,' add me to the list."<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20230608193438/https://twitter.com/NikkiHaley/status/1666608479480455171?cxt=HHwWhoCx8Z_l_aAuAAAA If @Moms4Liberty is a “hate group,” add me to the list.] by Nikki Haley (12:50 AM · Jun 8, 2023) ''Twitter'' (archived from June 8, 2023).</ref> While not specifically designated as a hate group at the time by the [[Southern Poverty Law Center]], the SPLC did characterize [[Moms for Liberty]] as an [[extremist]] group that opposes [[LGBTQ+]] and racially inclusive school curricula, that supports [[Censorship|book bans]], and that has ties to hate groups.<ref>[https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/moms-liberty Moms for Liberty] ''Southern Poverty Law Center''.</ref>

==External links==
*[https://archive.is/tgPRW The Pointless Nikki Haley Campaign] – ''The Atlantic'', February 2023
 
==References==
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Categories: 2024 US Presidential candidates, Anti-abortion activists, Authors, Chickenhawks, Christians, Former U.S. Cabinet Members, Former United States Governors, Homophobes, Internalized discrimination, Kochsphere, Living people, Neoconservatives, Pseudohistory promoters, Racists, Right-wing activists, Tea Party, Transphobes, Trump administration, United Nations, United States politicians