ABC legal analyst Sunny Hostin, whose birth name is Asunción Cummings, said Tuesday on ABC’s “The View” that former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) is a “chameleon” for not going by her birth name Nimrata Randhawa.
Hostin said, “Who on your side is incredible enough, can pass the primary and be in the general?”
Co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin said, “I think we’ve got some if they’re willing to challenge Trump. I’d love to see Nikki Haley. I’d love to see Liz Cheney.”
Hostin said, “Nikki Haley, the chameleon?”
Griffin said, “I disagree. I think Nikki Haley was an incredibly effective governor of South Carolina.”
Hostin asked, “What is her real name again?”
Griffin said, “A lot of people don’t go by their actual real name.”
She added, “I don’t want to mispronounce it. It’s Indian. Her background is Indian.”
In the next segment, Griffin said, “Just real quick – the Niki Haley conversation came up. She’s gone by Nikki since she was a child. It is documented in high school. I wouldn’t be shocked if an Indian woman growing up in South Carolina in that time, she did it to avoid prejudice. So I want to be careful about critiquing her for going by a name she has always used.”
Hostin said, “There are some of us who can be chameleons and decide not to embrace our ethnicity so we can pass.”
Co-host Sara Haines interjected, “Sunny, you go by a different name.”
Hostin said, “Americans can’t pronounce Asunción because of the under-education in our system.”
Haines said, “People gravitate to names for different reasons.”
Co-host Whoopi Goldberg, whose birth name is Caryn Elaine Johnson, said, “I’m just going to kill this conversation. I’m authentically myself. I’m Whoopi Goldberg, and we’ll be right back.”
Former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley responded to Hostin:
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