Nikki Haley says that Joe Biden has a record of weakness and failure
Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley speaks at the 2020 Republican National Convention.
CNN analyst Asha Rangappa drew backlash on Tuesday for attempting to use Nikki Haley's name against her over the former U.N. ambassador's claim that the U.S. is not a "racist" country.
During her speech on the first night of the Republican National Convention, Haley firmly defended American values and shared her own experience as the daughter of Indian immigrants.
"In much of the Democratic Party, it's now fashionable to say that America is racist. That is a lie. America is not a racist country," Haley said. "This is personal for me. I am the proud daughter of Indian immigrants. They came to America and settled in a small Southern town. My father wore a turban. My mother wore a sari. I was a Brown girl in a Black and White world."
She continued, "We faced discrimination and hardship. But my parents never gave in to grievance and hate. My mom built a successful business. My dad taught 30 years at a historically black college. And the people of South Carolina chose me as their first minority and first female governor. America is a story that's a work in progress. Now is the time to build on that progress, and make America even freer, fairer, and better for everyone."
However, Haley's message that America wasn't racist didn't sit well with the CNN security analyst.
"Right. Is that why you went from going by Nimrata to 'Nikki'?" Rangappa asked.
That tweet was slammed by critics, many of whom pointed out that the former South Carolina governor's birthname is Nimrata Nikki Randhawa.
"Asha revealing that she's lost so much touch w/ her Indian culture that she doesn't know that Nikki is actually a Punjabi name," The Hill's Saagar Enjeti reacted.
"I hope you did better research when you worked for the FBI than you do when calling people out for the name they go by. Nikki Haley was born Nimrata Nikki Randhawa & married someone w/ the last name Haley. Her family called her Nikki growing up. It means 'Little One' in Punjabi," Washington Examiner reporter Jerry Dunleavy swiped the CNN analyst.
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"I understand this is a divisive issue among South Asians, but I keep landing here: A name doesn’t belong to a community. It belongs to an individual. If Haley/Jindal changed names, it’s their choice. There’s lots of reasons why one would do that. Don’t think we need to judge," New York Times writer Sopan Deb said, also referring to former Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal.
"What happened in your life to make you like this?" Tablet Magazine associate editor Noam Blum asked.
"Have you ever thought about not tweeting," Washington Post reporter Dave Weigel told Rangappa.
"Whenever there's a controversy about a blue check being a jerk, the odds that person is with CNN are around 98.5%," Mediaite editor Caleb Howe wrote.