 "image")
Who is Nikki Haley?
Nikki Haley is an Indian-American politician who recently announced her candidacy for 2024 presidential polls of the United States, challenging former President Donald Trump. She is the first female governor of South Carolina, the youngest governor in the US, and the second governor of Indian descent after Bobby Jindal.
Early Life
Early Life
Born Nimrata Nikki Randhawa in South Carolina's Bamberg on January 20, 1972 to her Sikh parents Ajit Singh Randhawa and Raj Kaur Randhawa, Nikki Haley converted to Christianity after her marriage to Michael Haley in 1996.
Her parents moved to Canada after her father, formerly a professor at Punjab Agricultural University, received a scholarship offer from the University of British Columbia. After her father received his PhD in 1969, he moved his family to South Carolina to be a professor at Voorhees College, a historically black institution.
Education
Nikki Haley earned an accounting degree from Clemson University in 1994, after which she joined her family's clothing business. She then served as a treasurer and then president of the National Association of Women Business Owners.
Political Career
Her political career began in 2004, when she was first elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives wherein she served three terms. During the end of her third term in 2010, Haley was elected governor of South Carolina; making her the youngest governor in the US at 39 years of age.
Among the many firsts, Haley also is the first Indian American member of a presidential cabinet in 2017. She served as the United States ambassador to the United Nations from 2017 to 2018.
During her term as the US Ambassador, she defended the country's interests, particularly its support of Israel, at the Security Council. She also affirmed the US's willingness to use military force in response to further North Korean missile tests in the wake of the 2017–2018 North Korea crisis.
On December 31, 2018, she voluntarily stepped down as the Ambassador.
Criticism
Following her announcement to run as for 2024 US Presidential polls, Nikki Haley has received racially charged comments by conservative pundit and author Ann Coulter, who called her a 'bimbo' and 'preposterous creature'. Coulter also asked Haley to "go back to her own country".
Apart from the racial comment, Haley has also been slammed for claiming that she was a part of the "new generation" at age 51.
Even before she entered the race, former President Trump dismissed her as "overly ambitious". Soon after her official announcement, as per the New York Times, Trump suggested that Haley's appointment as the UN ambassador during his tenure was less a reflection of her credentials than of his desire to see her male lieutenant governor take over as governor.