Nikki Haley is running for president. She was governor of South Carolina and US ambassador to the United Nations.
You would think that the first black president of the United States would have hope and pride in America.
Not only that: you’d think he’d say that my candidacy for president — as the first female minority governor in American history — is further proof of our national progress.
But that’s not what Barack Obama said. Instead, he criticized me for saying America is not racist.
In his words, I am one of the “minority candidates within the Republican Party who will validate Americans by saying, ‘everything is great, we can fix it’.”
He further accused me of ‘pretending'[ing] as if everything is equal and fair.’ He even tried to copy me by claiming that I say, “I’m an Asian-Indian American woman and my family came here and we worked hard.”
Talk about condescending. I am proud of my parents, who moved from India to South Carolina to pursue the American Dream. Yes, they worked hard. And yes, they faced racism, but they overcame it. They taught me and my siblings that even on our worst day, we are blessed to live in America.
They were right. I was a brown girl in a black and white world, yet my state elected me governor. And I want all the little girls and boys – white, black, brown, you name it – to know that they live in the best country in the world. In this country they can become anything. Even the President of the United States.
Does Barack Obama think he is the only minority that can be elected president? It certainly sounds that way. But he used to know better.
His 2008 presidential campaign was based on hope—hope for America’s progress. He used to be proud of our country.
I am proud of my parents, who moved from India to South Carolina to pursue the American Dream. Yes, they worked hard. And yes, they faced racism, but they overcame it. They taught me and my siblings that even on our worst day, we are blessed to live in America.
Republican presidential nominee Nikki Haley poses for a photo with her husband Major Michael Haley, along with her children Nalin Haley (right) and her daughter Rena Haley Jackson (left), during a dedication ceremony at Johnson Hagood Stadium in Charleston, SC, on June 17 2023
Nearly 20 years ago, the then senator said in the most famous speech of his career, “Our pride is based on a very simple premise, summarized in a statement made more than two hundred years ago.” And the future president spoke at length about the “opportunity” that drew his family here and enabled him to achieve so much.
This is America’s promise: the pursuit of happiness and opportunity for all. We’ve spent almost exactly 250 years striving to make it happen for everyone.
How far have we come? So much for Barack Obama being elected president. So far that I am now running for president.
If America was racist none of this would have happened – period. The America of 2023 would be the same as the America of 1776. But things are different day and night. Why? Because every generation of American citizens has stood up and stepped forward to fight for the principles of the Declaration.
That promise kindled a fire in the hearts of Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, and the abolitionists who ended slavery. It moved Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, the suffragettes, and everyone who fought to bring women on an equal footing with men. It filled the air when Martin Luther King, Jr. told us about his dream. It became a reality with the end of segregation and the triumph of civil rights.
And the promise of America has been the constant in my life, the life of Barack Obama and the lives of tens of millions of other people of every skin color and creed.
Do we have more work to do? We must fight racism, discrimination and anti-Semitism wherever they exist. On that note, we need to break down all the barriers that keep people from sharing in America’s promise.
We have an education system that lets students down – especially in the inner city.
We have a crime wave destroying communities and claiming lives, harming minorities the most.
Obama accused me of ‘pretending'[ing] as if everything is equal and fair.’ He even tried to copy me by claiming that I say, “I’m an Asian-Indian American woman and my family came here and we worked hard.”
Do we have more work to do? We must fight racism, discrimination and anti-Semitism wherever they exist. On that note, we need to break down all the barriers that keep people from sharing in America’s promise.
We have a social security system that traps people of all races and backgrounds in government dependency.
We have drugs like fentanyl tearing families apart – from the largest cities to the most rural towns.
We have too many broken homes, too few role models for our children, and too much trust in government, rather than in ourselves and each other.
Democrats have made these problems so much worse. But instead of confronting their failed policies, which hurt millions, liberals are blaming America itself.
They would rather demolish our country than admit their own mistakes and try another way. Barack Obama had eight years to bring our country together, but he chose to divide us further on the basis of race and gender. Now he’s doubling down by accusing America of racism.
Barack Obama speaks for the leadership of the Democratic Party. If they have their way, black and brown kids will think they are inferior and have no place in America. But I will make sure that every child has the best chance at the best life.
That’s why I’m fighting for universal school choice, law enforcement, a safe border, work over welfare, and an economy that uplifts everyone. All of these things, and more, are needed to help everyone find opportunity and participate in America’s promise.
The next president will oversee the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence – July 4, 2026. On that day, we need a leader who can say and prove: America is not a racist country.