Nikki Haley’s son: Vivek Ramaswamy has ‘third world parenting style’

Nalin Haley, the 24-year-old son of former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, called out Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy once again last week, this time over his views on education and parenting.

State of play: In a Nov. 26 X post responding to a video of Ramaswamy discussing year-round schooling as a way to reduce childcare costs, Nalin wrote, “This creep should not be near any child and we absolutely can’t have his third world parenting style imposed on American kids.”

He also shared a 2022 screenshot in which Ramaswamy had suggested renaming Florida’s education bill from “don’t say gay” to “wait until 8,” meaning children should reach the age of 8 before schools teach them about sex. Nalin termed this “creepy” and claimed it meant “wanting to teach 8 year olds about sex,” though Ramaswamy’s original point addressed how the word “gay” in the bill’s name caused what he called “a national fuss about nothing.”

Key phrase: “Third world” originated during the Cold War to refer to non-aligned nations. It later evolved into a term often associated with economic underdevelopment, leading to its decline in formal use. The phrase, however, has made frequent rounds among conservatives lately, with President Donald Trump himself pledging last week to “permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries” following a deadly shooting in Washington, D.C. This Tuesday, the administration officially halted immigration applications from 19 countries already under travel restrictions — including Asian nations such as Afghanistan, Iran, Laos and Myanmar — affecting more than 1.4 million pending asylum applications.

Dig deeper: The younger Haley’s attack follows mounting friction between both families. At a November 2023 GOP presidential debate in Miami, Ramaswamy invoked Nikki Haley’s daughter Rena, criticizing her TikTok use after Haley had mocked his own activity on the platform. Then, this October, Nalin, a recent Catholic convert, criticized Ramaswamy for drawing parallels between Hindu monotheism and Christianity’s Trinity at a Montana event, calling it “blasphemous” and “a slap in the face to every Christian.”

The big picture: Despite their conservative politics, these Indian American figures face ongoing racism from within Republican ranks. At the Montana event, Ramaswamy fielded hostile questions from attendees questioning whether a Hindu could govern Ohio’s predominantly Christian electorate. Later in the month, both he and Haley, alongside Kash Patel and Tulsi Gabbard — who is Hindu, but not Indian — received racist and Hinduphobic comments over their Diwali greetings.

Ramaswamy was told, “You are not an American, you are a demon worshipping foreigner. Self deport immediately.” Haley was similarly accused of “pretending to be American” and demanded to go home “straight way to India.” These incidents show that religious bigotry and xenophobia persist among certain MAGA factions, forcing even Trump-endorsed officials to repeatedly defend their American identity.