As the race narrows for the GOP presidential candidate, Republican Nikki Haley is giving voters insight into her life – and the racism she experienced. This comes after she declared American has “never been a racist country.”
In a clip from a recent interview, Haley sat down with NBC News reporters to open up about growing up as a brown girl in South Carolina. She claims kids made fun of her on a daily basis as the “only Indian family in our small southern town.”
“I was teased every day for being brown,” Haley said.
“So anyone that wants to question it can go back and look back at what I said on how hard it was to grow up in the Deep South as a brown girl.”
Her explanation comes after she received criticism for claiming she “had Black friends growing up” after her Civil War comments, gaining additional pushback. But Haley doubled down, saying having Black friends is “a source of pride.”
“If you wanna know what it was like growing up, I was disqualified from a beauty pageant cause I wasn’t white or black and they didn’t know where to put me,” she argued.
“So look, I know the hardships, the pain, that come with racism.”
It’s a completely different vibe from a Fox News interview on Jan. 16. When Fox News host Brian Kilmeade asked Haley if she was “involved in a racist party,” the former South Carolina governor responded, “We’re not a racist country, Brian. We’ve never been a racist country.”
Despite the legislation she worked on regarding the Walter Scott case and the Emanuel Nine, many commentators and critics think it’s too late for her to clean up the mess she has made. Republican strategist and CNN commentator Scott Jennings said Haley “hasn’t learned the critical issue of cleaning things up” and suggested Haley should “take the L and move on,” according to Forbes.
Fellow CNN contributor Alyssa Farah Griffin somewhat agreed, saying Haley “did herself no favors” and “kind of put herself back where she was at the beginning of this issue.”
Voters and social media users seem to be on the same side of the analysts. One user said they are sick of her pandering. “When was she ever brown? She isn’t brown now,” the user said. “She’s whiter than Elizabeth Warren. I’m so sick of her pandering.”
Another user thinks this is a ploy to get ahead in the polls. “I don’t believe her. And I think it’s gross that she’s pulling the race card because she’s losing.”
RELATED CONTENT: Donald Trump Defeats Nikki Haley In New Hampshire Primary; Haley Vows To Stay In Race