'My parents Christians, grandparents Sikh': Nikki Haley's son Nalin Haley says he was confused about religion

Amid the ongoing Christian-Hinduism controversy, Nalin Haley, the son of former US ambassador to UN Nikki Haley, has spoken about his unique journey in finding his faith in a multi-faith family. In an interview with UnHerd, the 24-year-old Indian-origin MAGA voice said he was confused over religion in his childhood. His maternal grandparents who were almost his surrogate parents, followed Sikhism while his parents were Protestant Christians.

Haley said he immersed himself in books on world religions to find out what he should follow when other kids of his age were reading about cars and dinosaurs. Eventually, he concluded that Christianity is the true faith but the conclusion was preceded by a spiritual experience that he did not detail in the interview.


“I needed to research my own faith better in terms of the history, the early beliefs, the Church Fathers,” he said. “When I did that, I felt as though anyone who does that kind of research will walk away a Catholic.”

The interview comes as Hindu Indian-origin politicians in the US are facing unprecedented attacks over their religion. Vice President JD Vance recently said he would like to see his wife Usha Vance converted to Christianity. Though JD clarified that Usha Vance has no intention of converting, the episode showed how MAGA is Christian nationalists at core and unapologetic about it.

Haley said he chose his political path too in a similar fashion. I was not just going to have the same political views as my parents,” he said adding that he supported Nikki Haley in the 2024 Republican primary only to be a "good son". “I didn’t and was never going to be an advocate for a view that I did not have," he said. Like he thinks the US should stop legal immigration as well, though he himself belongs to an immigrant family.