Judge Nikki Haley for her ideas: Bobby Jindal

Indian American Republican presidential candidate “should not be criticized—or praised—for her gender or ethnicity” 

Bobby Jindal, former Governor of Louisiana has come to the aid of fellow Indian American Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley saying she “should not be criticized—or praised—for her gender or ethnicity.”

“Haley’s gender and race should not define her or cause her to be treated differently,” Jindal, the first Indian American to seek Republican presidential nomination in 2016, wrote in an opinion piece in Newsweek.

Haley, 51, a former two-term governor of South Carolina and the first Indian American to serve in a presidential cabinet as UN ambassador under former President Donald Trump, became the first Republican candidate to announce her challenge against her former boss on Feb 15.

She has “ideas about America’s future that deserve to be debated,” wrote Jindal. “It is fair game to question her statements on Trump and rationale for running.”

But “liberals and conservatives should treat her like other candidates; they should support and criticize her for her experience, policies, and competence,” he wrote.

“Haley is also the daughter of immigrants, who came searching for the American dream and a better quality of life for their children. She inspires conservative support and liberal ire because she talks insistently and optimistically about the opportunities and liberties uniquely available in America, sees the nation as a power for good, and believes limited government is a prerequisite for those attributes.

“No one should write her off as the ‘Indian American’ candidate; she is simply and fully American,” Jindal concluded.

Born Nimrata Nikki Randhawa to Sikh parents Ajit Singh Randhawa and Raj Kaur Randhawa, who had emigrated from Punjab to Canada and then to the US in the 1960s.

At 39, Haley was the youngest governor in the US when she took office in January 2011, and made history as South Carolina’s first female governor. She was also the state’s first Indian-American governor and second in the US after Jindal.

Read: Nikki Haley joins 2024 US presidential race (February 14, 2023)

“Any candidate offering themselves to lead our nation should expect harsh scrutiny, and everything seems like fair game in modern campaigns,” Jindal wrote.

“Still, Nikki Haley should not be criticized or praised for being an Indian-American woman running for president; the fact she was born female and to Indian immigrants is not the most important thing to know about her,” he wrote.

“Liberals reduce Haley’s candidacy to the candidate’s gender and ethnicity—unsurprising given their obsession with identity politics,” Jindal wrote. “Conservatives should avoid falling into this same trap.”

CNN’s Don Lemon criticized Haley’s proposal for mental competency tests for older politicians—a barb aimed at Joe Biden and Donald Trump—by saying, “Nikki Haley isn’t in her prime, sorry. A woman is considered to be in her prime in her 20s and 30s and maybe 40s,” he noted.

“Liberal activists condemned his comments as sexist, but had Haley shared their liberal views, they would be arguing the only just outcome would be to cancel the election and give her the job,” Jindal wrote.

“Liberals who thought voters should elect Barack Obama because his predecessors were white and to prove America was no longer racist—and then complained his victory was not evidence against systemic racism—reject Haley as not really being a minority,” he wrote.

“Multiple liberal media figures have even criticized her for going by her middle name, which they falsely assume was anglicized,” Jindal wrote.

Read: Michael Haley: Possible First Gentleman of America (February 15, 2023)

Liberals are not the only ones indulging in race- and gender-based attacks. Ann Coulter asked why Haley, a South Carolina native, wasn’t going “back to your own country,” Jindal noted.

Haley, facing a no-win dilemma, countered pre-campaign criticisms about her name, but brushed off more recent comments by Lemon and Coulter.

“These attacks only benefit Haley’s campaign in the short term, as the national media attention improves her name recognition and gives reporters and voters a reason to keep discussing her candidacy,” he wrote.

“However, reducing Haley’s candidacy to her gender and ethnicity limits her ability to transcend those categories and build a broader coalition,” Jindal wrote.

“Running as a female minority candidate blesses her with a higher floor than other candidates struggling to differentiate themselves, but could also condemn her with a lower ceiling if voters don’t get the chance to examine her credentials and ideas,” he opined.

Read: Nikki Haley faces a serious uphill climb: The Hill (February 3, 2023)

Read: Nikki Haley poised to enter 2024 presidential race (February 1, 2023)

Read: Nikki Haley pulls key support from Ron DeSantis (February 9, 2023)

Read: Nikki Haley poised to enter 2024 presidential race (February 1, 2023)

Read: Nikki Haley hints at presidential run in 2024 (January 21, 2023)

Read: Republican Nikki Haley enters 2024 presidential race (February 14, 2023)

Read: Nikki Haley hints at 2024 presidential run (November 22, 2022)