GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley believes the US has “never been a racist country.”
Haley made the remarks during an interview with Fox News on Tuesday (January 16) in response to MSNBC’s Joy Reid questioning whether the former South Carolina governor could nab the GOP nomination as a woman of color, per CNN.
The Republican candidate suggested that Reid “lives in a different America than I do,” citing her rise from her immigrant parents to becoming governor and ambassador to the United Nations.
“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 an UN ambassador and who is now running for president. If that’s not the American dream, I don’t know what is,” Haley said. “You can sit there and give me all the reasons why you think I can’t do this. I will continue to defy everybody on why we can do this. And we will get it done.”
When asked if the Republican party was racist, Haley claimed the US has “never been a racist country.”
“We’re not a racist country, Brian. We’ve never been a racist country,” she said. “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.”
“I know I faced racism when I was growing up. But I can tell you, today is a lot better than it was then. Our goal is to lift up everybody. Not go and divide people on race or gender or party or anything else. We’ve had enough of that in America,” Haley added.
A campaign spokesperson for Haley echoed her statements.
“America has always had racism, but America has never been a racist country,” a spokesman said. “The liberal media always fails to get that distinction. It can throw a fit, but that doesn’t change Nikki’s belief that America is special because its people are always striving to do better and live up to our founding ideals of freedom and equality.”
On Tuesday, Haley said she was running for president to prove that gender or race isn’t a disadvantage.
“That’s why I’m so passionate about doing this. I don’t want my kids growing up where they’re sitting there thinking that they’re disadvantaged because of a color or a gender. I want them to know that if they work hard, they can do and be anything they want to be in America,” she said.
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