U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock speaks during a campaign rally on Oct. 28, 2022. (AP Photo/John Bazemore) / Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley on Oct. 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley is under fire for calling for the deportation of Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock, who is a native Black American.
Haley made the audacious remarks during a campaign rally in Hiram, Georgia, for Warnock’s opponent, Republican senate candidate Herschel Walker. The two are in a tight race for the seat.
“I am the daughter of Indian immigrants,” Haley said to the crowd Sunday, Nov. 6. “They came here legally, they put in the time, they put in the price, they are offended by what’s happening on [the southern U.S.] border.
“Legal immigrants are more patriotic than the leftists these days,” Haley continued. “They worked to come into America and they love America. They want the laws followed in America. So the only person we need to make sure we deport is Warnock.”
Not only was Warnock born and raised in Savannah, Georgia, but his father is also a World War II veteran and his family roots in America date back to slavery.
Warnock is also a pastor at the very church Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. pastored and made history as the first Black person elected to represent Georgia in the U.S. Senate.
Haley, whose real first name is Nimrata, is the daughter of Indian immigrants. Her father returned to the U.S. with his family after completing his studies in Canada because he was offered a job by Voorhees College, a historically Black college and university (HBCU).
Despite her background, Haley identified herself as white on her 2001 voter registration card, according to The New Republic.
A loyal Republican, Haley said America is not racist and her election as South Carolina’s first non-white governor proves it.
“The biggest threat we have is happening inside our country: all of these people who are saying America is bad, and America is racist, and America is oppressed; if America was racist, I wouldn’t have been elected the first female minority governor in the country,” Haley said.
People were outraged at Haley, who is thought to be gearing up for a presidential run in 2024, calling for Warnock’s deportation.
“This is what Black folks mean when we say that non-white folks exercise anti-Black racism & uphold white supremacy,” Dr. M. Marks-Osborne tweeted. “R.W.’s family’s been in the USA since BEFORE EMANCIPATION, and 1st gen Nimrata is calling for his deportation? Make it make sense! You can’t!”
“WERE IT NOT FOR civil rights laws Black folks DIED FOR, # NikkiHaley’s family might not be in America,” Harvard Professor Rev. Cornell William Brooks tweeted. “WERE IT NOT FOR an #HBCU giving her father his 1st JOB in the US, Haley wouldn’t be in a position to INSULT GA’s 1st BLACK SENATOR. Warnock’s history makes her story possible.”
“Your calling for the deportation of Sen Warnock is a dog whistle that shows what you are. Disgraceful,” Pam Ranberg tweeted.
“Nikki Haley calling to ‘deport” Senator Warnock is a reminder of 2 things: 1—Anti-Black racism remains too common in South Asians 2—Nimrata can change her name to Nikki, white wash the confederate flag, oppose then embrace Trump—but white supremacists still see her as subhuman,” human rights attorney Qasim Rashid wrote.
“If it’s a reminder of anything it’s that Black citizenship has always been a conditional and dispositional status here in America and that is regardless of whether or not you are a descendant of American chattel slavery or more recent Black immigrant,” writer Shamira Ibrahim tweeted.
Even conservatives criticized Haley’s comments.
“Nikki Haley calling to deport Raphael Warnock perfectly captures how those that should’ve been serious and talented leaders were really just weak toadies ready to say anything for applause,” Heath Mayo said. “This entire generation of GOP ‘leaders’ failed their test and let the country down.”
PHOTOS:
U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock D-Ga., candidate for U.S. Senate, speaks during a campaign rally, Friday, Oct. 28, 2022 in College Park, Ga. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley listens to Lisa Scheller, a Republican candidate for Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional District, speak with members of the media during a news conference in Allentown, Pa., Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
