Nikki Haley criticizes Vivek Ramaswamy for calling her daughter

Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley criticized his 2024 Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy after he brought up her daughter in Wednesday’s GOP primary debate.

The tense exchange came amid a debate over whether to ban the social media app TikTok, which has been approved by the FBI and other national security officials I warned could send personal data to China’s authoritarian government.

“Your own daughter has actually been using the app for a long time, so maybe you should take care of your family first,” Ramaswamy told Haley at the Miami event, the third GOP debate of the election cycle. The audience booed in response.

“Leave my daughter out of your voice. …You’re just scum,” Haley shot back with obvious disdain, rolling her eyes and shaking her head.

Haley’s daughter is in her mid-20s, but it’s still very unusual for candidates to bring up their opponents’ families as part of an attack on a debate stage.

The two White House candidates repeatedly fought each other during the primaries. At the first debate in August, Haley ripped in Ramaswamy because of his lack of foreign policy experience.

During another part of the debate on Wednesday, while talking about foreign policy, Ramaswamy said named Haley “Dick Cheney in 3-inch heels,” referring to the former GOP vice president.

Haley replied, “I want to start by saying they are 5-inch heels – and I don’t wear them unless you can walk in them.”