‘Read past the headline’: Nikki Haley's son Nalin hits back at ‘lazy’ jibe online; defends views on Gen Z

Nalin Haley, son of former South Carolina governor and US diplomat Nikki Haley, has pushed back against criticism of his recent comments about the struggles faced by Gen Z.

His reaction came after Canadian anti-transgender activist Chris Elston, known as “Billboard Chris,” criticised Nalin’s recent interview and said young men have a “woe-is-me attitude” and need to “snap out of it.”


Elston wrote: “If you are a young man with an attitude of ‘I did everything I was supposed to do, and look how unfair things are,’ you are an emotional toddler with a woe-is-me attitude and you need to snap out of it. There are many problems with the world and an abundance of opportunities within it for anyone with the right mindset.”

Nalin, 24, responded sharply, urging people to read beyond headlines before judging him. “Begging people to stop being so lazy and stupid and read an article past a headline,” he said, adding that his comments were not about his own life.

“This isn’t about me. I have a good job. This is about my friends and all those in my generation who worked hard to get their degrees in Business, Computer Science, and Engineering and can’t get jobs ’cuz they have to compete with foreigners working for half their paycheque and a literal supercomputer (AI),” Nalin wrote.

He also dismissed Elston’s criticism by saying, “You’re not American, so your opinion is invalid.”


Nalin, in his interview with New York Post, had said, "My friends graduated with great degrees from great schools, and a year and a half later, none of them have a job. And that makes me upset because they didn’t do anything wrong. They did everything they were supposed to.”

He also said he believed Zohran Mamdani’s victory reflected deep frustration among young voters across ideological lines, and that

Nalin further said that Democrats were engaging with young voters more seriously than Republicans and the GOP risked losing a generation if it continued to ignore issues like unemployment and immigration.

“I think people who voted for Mamdani are saying the same things. They just have some different ways to fix the problems. My issue is that the Democrats are listening to the younger people, and it’s time for the Republicans to do the same,” he said.