- The Washington Times - Tuesday, January 16, 2024

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley said America has “never been a racist country” after being asked if she thought her skin color is what hindered her in the Iowa caucuses.

When asked by Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade on Tuesday if she thought the GOP was racist, the former South Carolina governor said no.

“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. Are we perfect? No. But our goal is to always make sure we try and be more perfect every day that we can,” she answered.

The conversation was sparked after Mr. Kilmeade brought up comments made by MSNBC’s Joy Reid, who said Ms. Haley came in third in the caucuses because “she’s still a brown lady that’s got to try to win in a party that is deeply anti-immigrant.”

The former U.N. ambassador said Ms. Reid “lives in a different America” than she does.

“I mean, yes, I’m a brown girl that grew up in a small rural town in South Carolina who became the first female, minority governor in history, who became a U.N. ambassador and who is now running for president,” Ms. Haley said. “If that’s not the American dream, I don’t know what is.”

She said that she did face racism growing up, but it’s “a lot better than it was then.”

This comment comes weeks after she said freedom from government overreach caused the Civil War, ignoring the issue of slavery. Her response drew criticism, with her later saying, “Of course the Civil War was about slavery.”

In Monday’s Iowa caucuses, she finished behind former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.

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