“The View” co-host Sunny Hostin suggested Monday that former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley is attempting to hide her ethnicity by concealing her real name.
The panel discussed potential candidates for 2024 after President Joe Biden did not definitively answer whether he will run for re-election during a “60 Minutes” interview Sunday. Co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin suggested that Haley or Republican Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney would be qualified candidates to challenge former President Donald Trump in the GOP primary.
“And Nikki Haley, the chameleon? And Liz Cheney whose flip flop behavior…?” Hostin said. “What’s her real name again?” she added, referring to Haley.
“A lot of people don’t go by their actual real names,” Griffin pushed back.
“You know, I think if she leaned into being someone of color, it would be different,” Hostin added.
Haley, the daughter of Indian immigrants, was born Nimrata Nikki Randhawa and has been accused repeatedly of altering name to “get ahead” in politics, according to USA Today, which rated as “False” the claim that the former South Carolina governor had “whitewashed” her name.
Haley has gone by her legal middle name since birth, the outlet reported. Nikki, meaning “little one,” is a common name in Punjab, the region of India her parents emigrated from, Haley explained in a 2021 tweet. (RELATED: Nikki Haley Hints At 2024 Run In Scorching Speech On Biden’s Foreign Blunders)
Griffin said a lot of Republicans will likely challenge Trump in 2024, though Haley has previously said she will not run if Trump does. Co-host Whoopi Goldberg added that “there is nothing wrong with” Biden and that he has fulfilled his job as president.
“I don’t want to have to re-educate another person on what the values of this country are,” Goldberg said. “I don’t want to do it. And if you find a Republican who we don’t have to re-educate about the values of America and the promise, then it’s discussionable. But the folks that you mentioned, because they hung on every word you-know-who said, they don’t qualify.”
Hostin then endorsed Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom to run for president due to his “charismatic” nature, “good looks” and “real leadership” qualities.