Donald Trump’s latest racist attack deserves more than Nikki Haley’s weak response
In the early 1970s, a young newlywed couple left India with a 3-monthold son named Raja and moved to America in search of the American Dream. They believed that, of anywhere in the world, America gave them the best chance to succeed.
Their belief rang true nearly four decades later when I became the first Indian American in Illinois to be elected to Congress.
That story is the story of millions of Americans who have broken barriers, thanks to the promise of this nation. But these same proud Americans have become the targets of Donald Trump, who falsely claimed that Nikki Haley, the daughter of Indian immigrants, was ineligible to run for president because her parents were not U.S. citizens when she was born. Trump later mocked her birth name, calling her “Nimbra” and “Nimrada.”
Because I’m a first-generation Indian American, these race-based attacks are personal. Worse, they can lead to hate crimes and violence. Hate crimes against Asian Americans have spiked in recent years, with data from 2022 telling us that almost one-third of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have experienced verbal harassment or abuse. Another 22% have been called a racial or ethnic slur, and approximately 1 in 10 have been physically assaulted or threatened.
Trump’s most recent nativist attack on a political opponent is racist, wrong and reprehensible. While it may work with the narrow stratum of voters who participate in Republican primaries, history has shown that it does little to appeal to general election voters. It’s part of why the Republican Party lost the 2020 presidential election, underperformed in 2022 and lost a string of special elections in 2023.
In the suburban Chicago district I represent, 30% of voters were born in foreign countries. While proudly naturalized Americans, many retain personal or business ties to other countries. For them and many of their neighbors, Trump’s racist bombast is deeply disturbing and the Republican Party under his leadership has failed to paint an inclusive vision in which every American can succeed.
Just as disappointing is Haley’s weak response to Trump’s “birther” claims. Since the former president’s hateful attacks, she has missed a key opportunity to condemn his remarks. It is the same blueprint Trump used against U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, both of whom went on to lose the presidential nomination to him in 2016. Their nonresponses to Trump’s racist attacks made them look weak and ineffectual. Worse yet, they missed the chance to define a vision of America’s future that embrace all its people and their dreams.
Haley has a responsibility to call out Trump’s racism in real time. It was only 11 years ago when California U.S. Rep. Ami Bera became the sole Indian American to serve in the House of Representatives, a chamber consisting of 435 members. While that number has since risen to five, Trump’s false claims about Haley’s ineligibility to run for president sends a message of exclusion and otherness to millions of patriotic Americans. As the only remaining contender besides Trump for the Republican presidential nomination, Haley is in a unique position to prove that her party promotes inclusivity and denounces racism.
If Haley truly wants to be the Republican candidate of the future, now is the time to give voice to the best version of America — one that is inclusive and diverse and where racist declarations are unwelcome. That is the version of America that my parents embraced in determining where to pursue their future. It’s the version of America that enabled our family to achieve its dreams and to help others achieve theirs.