Nikki Haley Unfazed by Donald Trump’s ‘Birther’ Propaganda: “It Doesn’t Bother Me”

In an attempt to stir up controversy, former president Donald Trump shared a story from the far-right conspiracy website The Gateway Pundit that asserted Republican front-runner Nikki Haley is not a “natural born citizen” and is therefore ineligible to be president of the United States. As per The Independent, Trump supported the argument because Haley was born in 1972 to Indian immigrants who were not citizens of the United States. However, the former South Carolina governor remained unaffected by the audacious comments. He replied during a campaign meeting at CNN hall, “And look the name-calling — I know President Trump well. That’s what he does when he feels threatened. That’s what he does when he feels insecure,” Haley said. “I don’t take these things personally; it doesn’t bother me. I know him very well, and this is what he does. I know that I am a threat; I know that’s why he’s doing that.”

She went on to add that she had no plans to “get into the name-calling back with him.” As per ABC News, the GOP front runner's parents are Punjabi Sikhs who immigrated to South Carolina in the 1960s from India. She was born Nimarata Nikki Randhawa. She has stated that she inherited her husband's last name upon marriage and had initially taken on her middle name as her first name. As reported by BBC, recently, during an outburst on his social media network Truth Social, Trump had attacked her as "Nikki 'Nimrada' Haley" by referring to her birth name, Nimarada. 

Trump wrote, "Anyone listening to Nikki “Nimrada” Haley’s wacked-out speech last night, would think that she won the Iowa Primary. She didn’t, and she couldn’t even beat a very flawed Ron DeSanctimonious, who’s out of money, and out of hope. Nikki came in a distant Third! She said she would never run against me, “he was a great President,” and she should have followed her advice. Now she’s stuck with weak policies, and a very strong Maga base, and there’s just nothing she can do!" 

Haley stated that she was a "proud daughter of Bamberg, South Carolina" in response to questions from CNN's Jake Tapper over the post and article. "I love my sweet town and I'm proud to say I'm from there. So, that's the first question, we can throw that out the window," she said. "I know that I am a threat. I know that's why he's doing that," she said. Harvard Law School constitutional expert Laurence Tribe told NBC that the "birther" propaganda peddled by Trump was completely unfounded. 

"I can't imagine what Trump hopes to gain by those claims unless it's to play the race card against the former governor and UN ambassador as a woman of color - and to draw on the wellsprings of anti-immigrant prejudice by reminding everyone that Haley's parents weren't citizens when she was born in the USA," he added.