Nikki Haley Slammed by Jemele Hill After Controversial Comments About Kamala Harris: 'Racism Is Such a Terrible Sickness'

Nikki Haley faced backlash after making a controversial social media post implying that she didn't want Kamala Harris to become President of the United States.

"Everyone in America can see Joe Biden's decline and have concerns about his ability to serve a second term," the Sunday, August 27, tweet read. "They know a vote for Joe Biden is a vote for Kamala Harris. The media needs to stop protecting Biden and tell America the truth."

The Atlantic writer Jemele Hill immediately hit back at the inflammatory statement, claiming that Haley appeared to be attempting to appeal to racists as Harris is multiracial. Her mother was of South Asian descent while her father is Black.

"So part of the reason racism is such a terrible sickness in this country is because politicians like this know they can rally a certain base with the fear of OH MY GOD A BLACK WOMAN MIGHT BE PRESIDENT IF YOU DON’T VOTE FOR ME," Hill wrote alongside the shared tweet.

"Then we want to act all surprised when the most hateful part of the base decides they need to act out on their feelings of hatred," she added.

However, Haley's own cultural background sparked arguments in the comments section. The 51-year-old politician was born Nimarata Nikki Randhawa Haley and her parents are both South Asian.

"Nikki Haley’s parents were immigrant Sikhs from Punjab, India," journalist Andrew Neil chimed in. "Kamala Harris' mother was an immigrant Tamil Indian (who became a distinguished biologist). I fail to see what race has to do with Ms Haley’s remark."

When another social media user argued that Haley hadn't said what Hill was implying, the sports journalist replied that if the vice president had been "a white guy named Tim Harris" then Haley likely wouldn't have made the comments at all, adding: "She knows what she's doing and it’s sick."

This is far from the first time Haley has criticized Vice President Harris. The former governor has repeatedly insisted that she should never be POTUS.

"My concern is we cannot have Kamala Harris as president. We can't chance this," she said in an interview with Maria Bartiromo released earlier this week. "We have to make sure that we have a new generational leader that's going to bring in not only Republicans, but we're going to pull back the independents."

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