Former U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Nikki Haley responded to an accusation by Sunny Hostin, host of âThe View,â who asserted she is using her middle name to shrink away from her ethnicity.
Hostinâs Tuesday comments centered around Haleyâs legal name, which is Nimrata Nikki Haley. The former ambassador is known by her middle and last name, professionally.
The comments were prompted by a discussion by the group talking about potential 2024 presidential candidates and what they might face if running against President Joe Biden.
Host Alyssa Farah Griffin listed Haley, a Republican, as a possible candidate and called her an âincredibly effective governor in South Carolina.â When Hostin interjected, asking, âWhat is her real name again?â
Griffin tried to steer the conversation back by saying many people in the media and other areas donât go by their exact birth name, but Hostin doubled down on her seeming irritation.
Hostin continued, saying âThereâs some of us that can be chameleons and decide not to embrace our ethnicity so that we can pass, that we donât have to go byââ
At that point co-host Sara Haines laughingly interjected that Hostin herself wasnât given the name âSunnyâ at birth.
Hostinâs actual name is AsunciĂłn Cummings Hostin, and longtime host Whoopi Goldbergâs actual name is Caryn Johnson.
Hostin was quick to play off her own name choices by saying that it is only the lack of education about names such as hers in American culture that has caused her to adopt a nickname.
Haley chimed in via Twitter hours later, saying, âThanks for your concern, Sunny. Itâs racist of you to judge my name.â
âNikki is an Indian name and is on my birth certificate â and Iâm proud of that. Whatâs sad is the leftâs hypocrisy towards conservative minorities,â the former South Carolina governor went on. âBy the way, last I checked Sunny isnât your birth name.â
Haleyâs point was further driven home by her spokesman, Ken Farnaso, who pointed to the ironic nature of Hostinâs name debate in a Tuesday tweet.
âAre we really going to play this game, ?â Farnaso asked, posting a photo of Hostinâs legal name. âNikki is an Indian name that means âlittle one.â Itâs middle name on her birth certificate. You should know better than this â you donât even go by your first name.â
