Heated clash erupts on The View as host accuses Nikki Haley of being a racial 'Chameleon'

During a panel discussion on The View this Tuesday, host Alyssa Farah Griffin brought up a topic that was mentioned by fellow host Sunny Hostin earlier in the segment, where Hostin accused former South Carolina GOP Gov. Nikki Haley of being a "chameleon" who changed her name to hide her ethnicity.

"So Nikki Haley has gone by 'Nikki' since she was a child, it's documented when she was in high school," Griffin said. "I wouldn't be shocked that an Indian women growing up in South Carolina at that time -- she actually did [it] to avoid prejudice, so I just want to be careful about critiquing her about going by a name she's always gone by."

That's when host Sunny Hostin chimed in, saying that there are "some of us that can be chameleons and decide not to embrace our ethnicity so that we can pass..." before she was interrupted by host Sara Haines, who pointed out that Hostin doesn't use her real first name either, which is Asunción.

"Sunny, you go by a different name!" Haines shot back.

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"I didn't want to be the one to say it," Griffin said.

"Yes, but most Americans can't pronounce 'Asunción' because of the under-education in our country," Hostin replied.

In response, Haley, whose full name is Nimrata Nikki Haley, took direct aim at Hostin in a tweet pointing out that the name she goes by is of Punjabi origin (Haley is Indian) while mocking what she sees as Hostin's hypocrisy.

"Thanks for your concern @Sunny. It's racist of you to judge my name," Haley wrote. "Nikki is an Indian name and is on my birth certificate—and I'm proud of that. What's sad is the left's hypocrisy towards conservative minorities. By the way, last I checked Sunny isn't your birth name…"

Watch the video below or at this link.