Nikki Haley's attempt to criticize Barack Obama backfires on Twitter

Bamberg, South Carolina - Former South Carolina governor and presidential hopeful Nikki Haley took shots at former President Barack Obama on social media, and Twitter users weren't having it.

Presidential hopeful Nikki Haley (r.) is receiving backlash on Twitter for saying that former President Barack Obama set minorities back.
Presidential hopeful Nikki Haley (r.) is receiving backlash on Twitter for saying that former President Barack Obama set minorities back.  © Collage: JOE RAEDLE / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP & SCOTT OLSON / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP

On Friday evening, Haley argued in a Twitter post that Obama "set minorities back by singling them out as victims instead of empowering them."

"In America, hard work & personal responsibility matter," she explained. "My parents didn't raise me to think that I would forever be a victim. They raised me to know that I was responsible for my success."

While that rhetoric would work great at a MAGA rally, Twitter users mocked her for the post, pointing out that although she too is a minority, she used the term "them" instead of "us."

Trump bashes "completely inept" Harris for 60 Minutes interview after bailing on his own
Donald Trump Trump bashes "completely inept" Harris for 60 Minutes interview after bailing on his own

Others even went as far as to criticize her for "whitewashing" her public image, arguing that Haley uses the fact that she's "white passing" to her advantage, even changing her religion and opting to go by her middle and last name by marriage as a politician instead of her birth name – Nimrata Nikki Randhawa.

While Haley regularly slams "woke" culture and identity politics, the presidential hopeful brings up her race and gender in a very meticulous manner, seemingly to ensure she doesn't alienate the Republican base she wants to win over.

Nikki Haley strongly believes that "America is not a racist country"

Although Haley was born in the US to immigrant parents from India and grew up in a segregated town, she regularly pushes the right-wing ideal that "America is not a racist country," per the Associated Press.

During her term as governor, she pushed back against attempts to have confederate flags and monuments removed from federal buildings in South Carolina, only to briefly change her stance following a mass shooting in a local church where a white supremacist killed nine African-Americans.

The "About Nikki" section of her website describes her upbringing as "different" while also pointing out that she was the "first minority female governor in America."

Cover photo: Collage: JOE RAEDLE / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP & SCOTT OLSON / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP

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