Sunny Hostin blasted as a ‘racist’ for claiming Nikki Haley uses fake name to hide Indian heritage
Twitter users ripped into ABC’s The View co-host Sunny Hostin for calling former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. under Trump, Nikki Haley, a "chameleon" for not going by her first name.
"The View" is known for its liberal bent and viral moments, and while longtime stars like Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar have often gotten attention for their over-the-top remarks, Sunny Hostin's latest controversial statements have again made headlines.
Hostin went on a strange tangent Tuesday about former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, calling her use of the name a cynical effort to bury her Indian heritage, since her real first name is Nimrata.
"What is her real name, again?" Hostin asked pointedly when co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin brought Haley up as a potential 2024 Republican hopeful.
"A lot of people don't go by their actual real name," Griffin reacted.
‘THE VIEW’ HOST SUNNY HOSTIN BLASTED FOR CLAIMING NIKKI HALEY USES FAKE NAME TO HIDE INDIAN HERITAGE
"I think that if she leaned into being someone of color, it's different," Hostin told Griffin. "There are some of us that can be chameleons and decide not to embrace our ethnicities so that we can pass-"
"Sunny, you go by a different name!" co-host Sara Haines shouted at Hostin, whose real name is Asunción.
"Americans can't pronounce 'Asunción' because of the under-education in our country," Hostin said.
Haley later shot back that Hostin's remarks were racist but predicted there would be no consequences for her. A spokesperson for "The View" and Hostin's representatives didn't return a request for comment.
"It's not the first time, and it won't be the last time that the hosts of ‘The View’ come after me or that liberals come after me in… whatever way," Haley told Fox News host Harris Faulkner. "They can't stand the fact that a minority female would be a conservative Republican."
Hostin's comments sparked fierce condemnation on social media. But de-legitimizing people of color with conservative politics is a recurring theme for her.
In May, Hostin declared the idea of a Black Republican an "oxymoron" during a heated exchange with guest co-host Lindsey Granger and Ana Navarro, who despite being an outspoken supporter of President Biden still identifies as a Republican.
"I don't understand either of you," Hostin told Granger and Navarro. "I don't understand Black Republicans and I don't understand Latino Republicans."
"The View" co-host Sunny Hostin suggested Nikki Haley was hiding from her Indian heritage for using the name "Nikki," even though it's her middle name and she's used it since childhood. (Amanda Edwards/Getty)
In January, Hostin claimed Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas "doesn’t really represent the Black community" and said his appointment by President George H.W. Bush was "terribly disrespectful" to fill the seat left vacant by Justice Thurgood Marshall. In April 2021, Hostin expressed her disappointment that Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C. was "used" by the GOP to give the rebuttal to Biden's first address to Congress and that he "knows" he was being taken advantage of because of his race.
She also condemned CNN contributor Van Jones for being willing to work with the Trump administration on passing criminal justice reform and praising President Trump for doing "good stuff" for the Black community during his term in office.
Hostin told Jones, "People in the Black community don’t trust you anymore," which he denied in a hostile exchange from February 2021.
‘Complicit’
Anyone who served in the Trump administration should suffer the consequences, Hostin appeared to suggest once, siding with the idea by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to have a blacklist of sorts for officials who worked there.
"You know, I think that Trump, um, tear-gassed peaceful protesters for a photo op. I think that Trump ripped children from their parents. I think that Trump called NFL players sons of bitches... for exercising their First Amendment rights," Hostin said in 2020. "I think those people in his administration that not only drafted some of those policies, but were complicit in some of those policies, shouldn’t be forgotten.
"People like Kirstjen Nielsen, people like Stephen Miller, people like Kellyanne Conway, people like Vice President Pence, who was woefully inadequate at his role of being the head of the coronavirus task force, and people like Ben Carson and Betsy DeVos, I don't think that those people should be able to profit from their experience within the Trump administration and I don't think they should be forgotten, and I don’t think we should look the other way… I do think people need to be held accountable for their actions, and I don't think it's reminiscent of McCarthyism at all."
"The View" co-host Sunny Hostin. (Getty Images)
Her loathing for Trump reached such heights, she claimed in April she contemplated suing him over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic following the death of her two in-laws. She refrained from offering a viable path on how such a lawsuit would even be remotely feasible.
She also appeared to suggest once that possible threats to conservative Supreme Court justices could hand "leverage" to a more moderate approach.
"While I think it is terrible that a justice would have to go into hiding, I think it is really clear to the justices now that… 64% to 66% of Americans believe that the Supreme Court should uphold Roe v. Wade, right?" Hostin said at the time, referring to unconfirmed reports that Justice Alito and his family had been moved to an undisclosed location over safety concerns. "And so that being said, maybe these protests, and maybe this outcry, gives Chief Justice Roberts some leverage for a more moderate approach because we saw during the hearing that he was looking for a way, a moderate way, to handle this case."
‘DeathSantis’
Like Trump, Hostin has a strong antipathy towards Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is widely seen as a potential 2024 contender.
"Bigotry is on the ballot when it comes to Ron DeSantis," Hostin declared last month while decrying his legislative targeting of her employer Disney over its opposition towards the Parental Rights in Education law. "It's not anti-Disney. It's anti-Black, it's anti-gay, it's anti-LGBTQ+ community. And for some reason, the Republican base responds to it."
Often when DeSantis is mentioned in conversation, Hostin refers to him as "DeathSantis," an apparent reference to the death toll in Florida over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
"The View's" Sunny Hostin (Screenshot/ABC) (Screenshot/ABC)
In March 2021, as then-Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, D., was embroiled in a sexual harassment scandal that later resulted in his resignation, Hostin's first instinct was to deflect to "DeathSantis" and other GOP governors who should face scrutiny.
"You know, I just think it’s interesting that we’re talking every week, feels like practically every day, about Cuomo, and asking him to step down and asking him to resign without truly due process, without investigations, which are ongoing, having been held," Hostin said at the time. "We’re not talking at all about Governor DeathSantis in Florida, we're not talking about Governor Abbott, I believe, in Texas, we're not talking about the South Dakota governor, we're not talking about any of those governors."
SUNNY HOSTIN BLASTS ‘UN-AMERICAN’ TRUMP VOTERS WHO BACKED ‘RACIST,’ HOMOPHOBIC CANDIDATE
Hostin went on to peddle the debunked conspiracy theory from ex-Florida health official Rebekah Jones that the DeSantis administration altered the state's COVID data, arguing the nation was too "hyper-focused" on Cuomo without even mentioning the nursing home scandal that is allegedly responsible for thousands of deaths in New York.
In March, Hostin hinted she would physically harm him for encouraging students at a press event to take off their masks.
"If that were my kid there, I don’t know what I would do. I don’t know if I would show up at the… I don’t know if it would be legal!" Hostin exclaimed. "It’s just so inappropriate to see that from a leader. I would go nuts, I would go nuts."
‘Un-American’
Hostin has frequently shown contempt for anyone who voted for Trump, calling them selfish, brainwashed and worse.
"For the past four years, this president has shown us that he is a misogynist, that he is homophobic, that he is racist and that he mismanaged a coronavirus pandemic to the tune of 250,000 American deaths," Hostin said shortly after the 2020 presidential election. "Yet 50% of America saw all of that and looked the other way to their brothers and their sisters and said, ‘I’m going to vote for him anyway.’ And that is really disheartening because for me, that means you are selfish."
"I’m not going to say that 50% of Americans are racist and sexist and homophobic, but I will say that that tells me that they will look the other way to that kind of behavior, to the plight of their fellow Americans, if personally they feel that they are doing OK and that they will do better under that type of presidency," Hostin continued. "And that, I think, is despicable. It is un-American."
In January 2021, she accused the 74 million people who voted for Trump of being "brainwashed" throughout his presidency.
Since the new administration took office, Hostin has blamed low approval numbers for figures like Vice President Kamala Harris on base misogyny.
"I think that really speaks to where our country is," Hostin said in November 2021. "Let’s come down on the woman who happens to be the first female vice president that we’ve ever had in the country’s history, which is ridiculous that it’s the first woman that we’ve had, but incredible."
"I think the reason why she is getting so much, I guess, ire from the right, and from all over the country is because … not only is she a woman but she’s been given these tasks that are just, I mean, what is she supposed to do with immigration? What is she supposed to do."
She's also pinned it on racism.
‘THE VIEW’ HOST SUNNY HOSTIN SAYS 74 MILLION AMERICANS HAVE BEEN ‘BRAINWASHED’ BY TRUMP
"What it is is that they constantly question the qualifications of Black women, and that’s why people are saying that she’s unprepared," Hostin said in March. "This is based in racism. This is based in misogyny. And we’re talking about a woman that has extensive experience abroad, extensive experience as an attorney, extensive experience as the chief legal officer of one of our largest states in the country and I think this is just much ado about nothing."
Sunny Hostin found herself in hot water for disparaging Black and Latino Republicans earlier this year. (REUTERS/Danny Moloshok)
Following the deadly massacre at the Buffalo grocery store, Hostin equated the racist shooter to "parents storming school boards" who oppose critical race theory ideology being taught to their children.
"Well, what are you teaching your kids at home then? What's going on in your homes? What are you talking about in your home?" Hostin asked. "So obviously, CRT was never the problem. It's WRT. It's White replacement theory- is the problem. So if you don't want your kids to feel like oppressors, or you don't want your kids to feel bad, what are you teaching them?"
Hostin has even called President Biden too "naive" over his eagerness to work with Republicans, suggesting they're rotten to the core.
"I think Joe, because we all know him and adore him, he thinks the best of people, and I see sometimes the worst of people," she admitted.
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The worst of people, indeed.