A Conversation with the Son of Presidential Candidate Nikki Haley<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n
Last week, Republican Nikki Haley, former South Carolina Governor and U.N. Ambassador, announced her 2024 presidential campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
On Presidents\u2019 Day, The Villanovan spoke to Villanova junior Nalin Haley, the son of Nikki Haley, to talk about what it\u2019s like to have a parent run for president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Unsurprisingly, Haley is a political science major at Villanova, but he says he would have chosen that major even if his mom didn\u2019t work in politics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Haley went to high school in New York, while his mom worked at the UN, and now he lives in Columbia, South Carolina. He explained that growing up with a high profile politician parent was, well, different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt was definitely weird, because there\u2019s a lot of kids that will definitely try to get stuff out of you,\u201d he explained. \u201cYou always have to, like, look out for who to trust\u2026.But I mean, for the most part, I feel like I\u2019ve lived a pretty normal childhood, as normal as it could get.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Haley explained that he likes to keep a small circle, and he values the friends that just see him as himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\u201cA lot of people will have these assumptions\u2026but I haven\u2019t even had a conversation with them,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s always gonna be people out there that will treat you differently, but on the whole (at Villanova), I feel like this community\u2019s been very good to me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
His relationship with his mother is also just like anyone else\u2019s. That relationship is seen in how supportive she was in his decision to come to Villanova.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\u201cShe had like a little Villanova pin, and she kept it by her bed every day,\u201d Haley said, \u201cSomehow she just knew that I was gonna go.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
His relationship with her is also shown through his strong support of her deciding to run. If he, and the rest of the Haley family, didn\u2019t want Nikki Haley to run for president, she wouldn\u2019t have done it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\u201cShe\u2019s always going to be a mom first, before anything,\u201d he said, explaining that his family made this decision together, not too long ago.\u201cShe wouldn\u2019t have done it if just one of us said no\u2026It took the four of us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Haley is excited for his mom\u2019s campaign, and although he knows it\u2019s a long road ahead, he\u2019s ready. He spoke proudly of her political career, specifically discussing her time as the governor of South Carolina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019ve seen how she can react in difficult situations,\u201d he said, referencing the historic flood in South Carolina in 2015 and the shooting at a Church in Charleston in which a white supremacist killed nine Black parishioners. \u201cJust seeing how she handled that, how she put her citizens first\u2026how she was able to hold the state together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Haley has been helping his mom during her campaign, and he plans to do more work on the campaign this summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\u201cI finally won\u2019t have school, so I can give everything,\u201d he said, noting that he\u2019ll have to pick up another job as well. \u201cThen I\u2019m going to work as a towel boy, because I have to make money.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
While he does fear for his mom\u2019s physical safety sometimes, what mostly bothers him is the media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen you\u2019re on the inside looking out, you realize how inaccurate things are,\u201d he said. \u201cIt becomes where you feel like they\u2019re making the story rather than telling it, so that\u2019s the frustrating part, it\u2019s just a lot of the lies because you can\u2019t do anything about it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
CNN anchor Don Lemon recently commented on Haley\u2019s campaign announcement. He specifically called for a new generation of politicians, as he said that she wasn\u2019t \u201cin her prime.\u201d Haley was annoyed by Lemon\u2019s comments, but he knows his mom is strong and that those comments wouldn\u2019t bother her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\u201cA lot of people are\u2026gonna come after her,\u201d he acknowledged. \u201cThere\u2019s nothing she can\u2019t handle. I mean, criticism just bounces off of her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
One of Haley\u2019s biggest competitors in the primary will be former president Donald Trump, who is known for his aggressive rhetoric and nicknames for his opponents, including \u201csleepy Joe,\u201d \u201ccrooked Hillary\u201d and \u201cRon DeSanctimonious.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Trump and Haley have an interesting relationship. Haley en dorsed Marco Rubio in 2016, but she became the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations in 2017 under the Trump Administration, and now she is running against him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Haley explained that he was not worried about what Trump\u2019s rhetoric will be like towards his mother, and he also turned down the speculation that she could be looking to be Vice President if Trump wins the primary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t go for a second place,\u201d he said firmly. \u201cWe go for first.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Haley got some pushback online this fall after speaking at a campaign event for Dr. Oz, the Republican candidate for the Senate, when she said she worried about her son every time he steps off campus. Although Haley was criticized for her remarks, due to Villanova\u2019s location on the wealthy Main Line, Haley stood up for his mother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\u201cShe\u2019s doing her job as a mom to worry,\u201d he explained. \u201cI feel like, yes, while this is a relatively safe place, everywhere is getting more dangerous. I don\u2019t think she\u2019s wrong, and if you even looked at what happened on campus, we had a lockdown, and no one would think that would happen in the area like this. She\u2019s not wrong for worrying.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Haley declined to comment on his mother\u2019s statement that America is not a racist country during her campaign announcement, but he did want to add clarification on her call for term limits for Congress and for mental competency tests for politicians over 75 years old. Donald Trump is 76, and at 80 years old Joe Biden is the oldest person to hold the presidency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s about transparency in government and giving it back to the people instead of keeping it with older politicians in Washington who make laws that won\u2019t even affect them,\u201d he commented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
If his mom does end up winning the election in 2024, Haley doesn\u2019t expect much to change for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur family is always gonna be our family,\u201d he said. \u201cJust more busy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Who Are Nikki Haley’s Children, Rena And Nalin Haley?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n
![\"Nikki](\"https:\/\/www.thelist.com\/img\/gallery\/who-are-nikki-haleys-children-rena-and-nalin-haley\/intro-1676404813.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
As the 2024 election year draws closer, presidential hopefuls are emerging out of the woodwork. While candidates like Maryland’s Larry Hogan and Senator Ted Cruz are still only rumored, South Carolina’s former Republican governor Nikki Haley officially announced her campaign on Tuesday, February 14, making her the first official opponent of former President Donald Trump. “The Washington establishment has failed us over and over and over again,” said Haley in a presidential campaign video posted to her Twitter account, adding, “It’s time for a new generation of leadership.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Haley, who was born and raised in South Carolina, served as the state’s first female and first Asian governor from 2011 until 2017. In 2017, she joined Trump’s cabinet as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations, a position which she held until 2018. While only 4% of registered Republicans currently back Haley \u2014 43% say they will vote for Donald Trump and 31% lean towards Florida governor Ron DeSantis, per Reuters \u2014 the former governor has pointed out a specific advantage. “When you kick back, it hurts them more if you’re wearing heels,” she said in her campaign announcement. In the coming year, Haley and her family will be in the national spotlight more than ever. With this in mind, who are her two children, Rena and Nalin?<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Rena Haley works as a nurse and Nalin is a college student<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n
![\"Rena](\"https:\/\/www.thelist.com\/img\/gallery\/who-are-nikki-haleys-children-rena-and-nalin-haley\/rena-haley-works-as-a-nurse-and-nalin-is-a-college-student-1676404813.jpg\")
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After graduating from Clemson University in 2021 with a major in nursing and a minor in psychology, Rena Haley began working as a pediatric nurse in South Carolina, as evidenced by her LinkedIn. Rena’s mother also attended Clemson, graduating in 1994 with a bachelor’s in accounting, and has served on the school’s Board of Trustees since 2021 (via Clemson News).<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
In July 2022, Rena got engaged to her long-time boyfriend, Joshua Jackson, a fellow Clemson graduate and a member of the school’s football team. “He asked . . . She said yes! And just like that, we have another son. So proud and happy for both of them,” wrote South Carolina’s former governor in a celebratory Twitter post. As evidenced by Rena’s Instagram, the pair met and started dating as undergrads. “1 year of dating my best friend and it has been nothing short of amazing,” she posted in December 2019. The wedding is scheduled for April 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Nikki Haley’s youngest child, Nalin, is currently in his third year at Villanova University. “Our little one has finally picked his second home. Nalin is #GoingNova and we couldn’t be more excited for him,” wrote the presidential hopeful on Facebook in April 2020. Nalin posed with former President Donald Trump in a 2018 Instagram post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Nikki Haley previously said she would not run against Donald Trump<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n
![\"Nikki](\"https:\/\/www.thelist.com\/img\/gallery\/who-are-nikki-haleys-children-rena-and-nalin-haley\/nikki-haley-previously-said-she-would-not-run-against-donald-trump-1676404813.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
In 2021, Nikki Haley told The Associated Press that she wouldn’t run against Donald Trump if he announced a 2024 campaign. “I would not run if President Trump ran, and I would talk to him about it,” she said, adding, “That’s something that we’ll have a conversation about at some point, if that decision is something that has to be made.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Despite her contradictions, Haley’s presidential aspirations have been rumored since 2018 when she resigned from her position as United Nations Ambassador. In 2019, the politician released a memoir, “With All Due Respect: Defending America with Grit and Grace,” detailing the truth about her experiences within the Trump administration. Though Haley was widely praised by Republicans during her time as South Carolina’s governor, the state’s treasurer, Curtis Loftis, predicts a Trump victory in 2024. “I’m not aware of many Republicans that would be Haley supporters over Trump supporters,” he said in a statement (per The New York Times).<\/p>\n\n\n]]><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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