GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley has been receiving criticism after telling a Fox News panel this week that the United States has never been “a racist country.”
Haley made the comments during an interview on “Fox & Friends” on Tuesday. It comes after the former South Carolina governor came out in third place in the Iowa Republican caucuses, where ex-president Donald Trump beat his opponents. Despite his legal battles, he maintains his position as a frontrunner for the party’s nomination.
Host Brian Kilmeade asked Haley if she considers her party “racist” after playing a clip of MSNBC host Joy Reid responding to the results. Reid pointed out that the ex-US ambassador to the United Nations is still a woman of color who is fighting for a nomination in a party the commentator deems “anti-immigrant.”
“No, we’re not a racist country, Brian. We’ve never been a racist country. Our goal is to make sure that today is better than yesterday,” she responded. “Are we perfect? No. But our goal is to always make sure we try and be more perfect every day that we can.”
Haley, who is of Indian descent, went on to talk about how she experienced racism during her childhood, but the country has made progress. She emphasized that her goal is to “lift up everybody” rather than be divisive based on race, party affiliation, or gender.
People on social media slammed the comments she made 24 hours after Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Users specifically brought up how Black Americans have been treated throughout the nation’s history.
“Nikki Haley claiming that America has ‘never been a racist country’ just shows how out of touch conservatives are about this country,” one user wrote. “Race-based slavery wasn’t racist? Race-based segregation wasn’t racist? Denying opportunities to Black people because of their race isn’t racist?”
Former Ohio State senator Nina Turner, a Democrat, also chimed in: “Slavery? Indigenous genocide?Jim Crow? Black Codes? Mass incarceration? Lynching?And on and on and on. @NikkiHaley you’ve lost your damn mind.”
In a statement to The Hill, a representative seemingly doubled down on the candidate’s stance, saying that “America has always had racism, but America has never been a racist country.” It also took a dig at news outlets.
“The liberal media always fails to get that distinction,” the spokesperson’s statement continued. “It can throw a fit, but that doesn’t change Nikki’s belief that America is special because its people are always striving to do better and live up to our founding ideals of freedom and equality.”
A few weeks ago, Haley came under fire for not including slavery when answering a question about the causes of the Civil War, which she attempted to clear up days later.
