Getting Real With Nikki Haley - Sunday Fireside Chat

Life Audio. Hey there, this is Marissa Streit. I am the CEO of PragerU, and you are about to listen to a special edition of Fireside Chat with Dennis Prager. Those of us here at PragerU are continuing to do the very important work that we've been doing with him for over 10 years. We are educating millions of young people online. We have state partnerships to bring our content into schools and so much more. You can head over to prageru.com to see the progress that we've been making. Also, I'd love to invite you to support our mission by donating to our 501. It is a nonprofit. Your tax-deductible donation will go to an institution of higher learning that actually shares your values. So enjoy your podcast and thank you so much for all your support.

Hi everybody, Dennis Prager on the Fireside Chat. This is a special Fireside Chat. I rarely have guests. And I will say that when I have had, people have really reacted positively. I think that will be the case today too. I will introduce my guest in a moment on behalf of Otto. In any event, hi everybody. This is what number, Megan?

184.

Number 184 consecutive, one might add. We have not missed a week in 184 weeks. And it is my chance to just talk to you and tell you what I think about things, then take your questions. It is completely unrehearsed, and that is also true with regard to the dialogue that I will be having in a moment. Did want to share with you one thought about a news item and to give you an idea of how problematic things are in America. I hate to sound down, but I feel that if I hide it, I am patronizing those who listen to me or read me or watch me. I have to tell you what I think. And I don't want you to despair, but I don't want you to ignore how serious it is. A young woman attacks another young woman with a knife. She is about to stab her, quite possibly to death. A policeman comes and quite probably saves the other young woman's life, and he is attacked for being racist, despite the fact that he saved the life of a Black young woman. That is sick. What we have experienced in this particular episode can only be described as morally and even psychologically sick. What was he supposed to do? Say, "Please don't do that." "Hi, I'm a policeman. Please honor me." What was he supposed to do? Tase her? He has literally a second. And what if it doesn't work, which tasing often does not work, that he's not close enough anyway. People said— one of the things I remember seeing and reading was, well, think about the, the parents of the, of the girl who was killed, right? Nobody seems to say, think about the parents of the girl who was saved. What do they think? This, this is truly a, a broken compass. As I've said all of my life, the left's moral compass is broken. What I came to realize in the course of my life is that it never works. A broken clock is right twice a day, but the leftist compass is not. And to have LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers tweet out that— the picture of the policeman, "You're next," and that people take that man seriously outside of anything but basketball. All right, I thought I'd just bring that to your attention. It's as morally clear an issue as one can imagine. The policeman probably saved an innocent girl's life. Okay. My guest is Nikki Haley, former governor of state of South Carolina, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Many people speak of her as a possible future candidate for president of the United States. I, I have not had anyone in politics on the Fireside Chat. I rarely interview politicians even on my radio show, not because they're not significant or I don't have respect for them. But that is just not the nature of my work. I comment on their work rather than ask them. By the way, one of the reasons that I don't— I think I was thinking about this. Why do I rarely have politicians on a show with millions of listeners? And one of the reasons, and I'd like you to address this, but I'm going to say something before you address this, but I would like you to address politicians have to measure their words more than any other human beings. And that— I was thinking of running for office, and I realized the freedom I have as a writer, as a broadcaster, is not comparable. I mean, it's incomparably more to say what I really believe than that of a politician. I'd like you to address that in a moment, but let me, let me just say one thing to you. So I asked you on my radio show, uh, last week, because you've done a PragerU video and we promoted it. I said, so what should I call you, Governor Ambassador or Ambassador? You said Nikki. So I didn't tell you on the air, but now I can tell you now. I was raised so strongly to call people by their title that it is actually hard for me I can do it privately. I can work that through. But like right now, I feel I have to call you governor.

But you don't. You don't. I mean, those were moments in time. It's Nikki. It's— but can we stop for a second and talk about how cute Snoopy is and the idea truly that the second we sat down, like Otto took his place. Without anyone asking, without anyone telling. It's like the cameras came in and he went and laid down. That's like— it's like amazing to watch.

I was so touched by your reaction that he knew his position.

Like, he took his place first. That's how we knew to sit down, basically.

That's right. Snoopy will not be here the whole time, but I want you to know, you— this is the first time in 184 broadcasts that Snoopy is here this long.

I love Snoopy.

So this is a credit to you.

Well, I'm a dog lover, and think they can sense that.

Maybe that's what he doesn't—

So Dennis, I have faith in you that you can call me Nikki. You can do it.

What will my mother say?

Your mother would say she told you to call her Nikki.

Oh, by the way, in, in all seriousness, were you— I'll bet you were raised that in that formal sense.

Very much so. And still, even to where, like, women, you called them Miss so-and-so or Mr. Dennis Prager. You always, it's very respectful in the South. That's what you do. You never call anyone by their first names. I can appreciate where you're coming from.

Oh, okay then.

But you know, when they tell you, then it's different.

Yeah, I know that. I just think you're very friendly, but okay. All right, anyway, I had to get that off my chest. It is a great honor to have you here in my home and with the fireside chat. So answer this first question. How, if you knew you would never run for office, you just decided, I make a vow before the Lord, I will not run for office, would you speak any differently?

No. And I'll tell you, when you had made the comment about politicians having to be careful about what they say, I actually, when I first ran for office, I ran for office because I thought there were too many lawyers in the statehouse and they needed one really good accountant. It was really that simple, that I had just told my mom about how hard it was to make a dollar and how easy it was for government to take it. And my mom said, "Well, do something about it." Along the way, what I've learned is politicians who choose to be careful with their words, you're really depriving your constituency of what you truly think. That doesn't mean you're not responsible with your words, but the, I think the more forthright you are, the more straightforward you are, the more 8th grade language, because people shouldn't have to work hard to understand you, that you are, people relate better. And it's actually, it makes you a better public servant. And I think it allows your constituency to understand what you're thinking as you go through decision making. So I, I don't think I would talk any different. I think that the only thing is you, you are very responsible with what you say. Because you know that your voice carries.

Right. Okay. That's fair. So I'll give you an example. I'll tell you what prompted that. So you were the ambassador of the United States to the United Nations. The current U.S. ambassador seems to believe that the purpose of her position is to— forgive the jargon— crap on America. That's what she has been doing. How awful the country is, how she and all blacks presumably are victims of systemic racism at the U.N. as the ambassador of the U.S. So I was thinking, if I raise this with Nikki Nikki Haley. I don't know if I said in my brain Nikki Haley or Ambassador Haley, but if I raise this with Nikki Haley, will she feel in a very difficult position because she was in that position of U.S. ambassador to the U.N.? Or could she— could she— that is Nikki Haley, you— speak her mind?

It hurts my soul that she did that, because by her criticizing America, that was a win for China and Russia. They live for that because they are trying to get all these countries to turn around and criticize us. And the idea that she criticized our own country, it gives them every right to do what the Chinese delegation did to the American delegation in Alaska and humiliate them because our own people aren't standing up for us. I made a point to defend America because I believed in America. I know this is the best country in the world, and I was validated because other ambassadors would tell me on the sidelines how much they loved the fact the fact that we had freedom of speech and freedom of religion and freedom to do and be anything we wanted to be without government getting in the way. So I know how blessed we are. I don't know what she thought she was accomplishing, but it's the same thing Obama did prior to me coming into the UN and the Trump administration coming in. He had just apologized for America to everyone, and he tried to pay foreign aid and buy friends. In every way. And that never works. Only America loses when you do that. And we are seen as a bright spot and a beacon of hope. And it's the country every other country wants to be. So to have done that was just hugely disappointing. And I don't ever like speaking negative about a successor.

That's why I— that's what— that's always my question.

But I wasn't going to stay quiet about that.

Good, good. As I said on the radio show, I don't know if in the history of the United Nations, founded in 1945, any ambassador of any country ever used that forum to speak ill of their country. It's like unique in world history.

I mean, they're laughing at us. Yes, they are laughing at us and saying their own people are criticizing them, so they must be bad.

Well, that's right.

It's— no, it's really— I don't know what Biden thinks that he's accomplishing allowing his UN ambassador to do that. I don't know what she thinks she's accomplishing, but they just weakened America. They weakened America in the eyes of the world. Because how do you go and negotiate anything based on human rights? How do you negotiate anything based on truth? How do you negotiate anything that moves the ball forward when you're saying we are not worthy?

So I'll ask you about another, though not direct predecessor. It just came out incredibly, it's almost astonishing that a private dialogue in Iran, in Farsi, between the Iranian foreign minister and a colleague and a friend, an ally of his in the in the Persian media, got into the hands of the West. And in it was a line the Washington Post never reported, by the way, only the New York Times, in one line at the end of the article, that, that John Kerry had said to him, the Iranian foreign minister, uh, uh, Israel attacked Syria about 200 times, gave private confidential information about Israel to the Iranian foreign minister. How do you react to that?

Biden and Kerry owe us an explanation. He should not be allowed to sit on the National Security Council. He should not be a cabinet member. He should not have a position of authority until we get an answer. If it is true— I tend to think it's true, and the reason why I tend to think it's true is because he and Zarif were very close when they were coordinating and getting the Iran deal to take place. He is, just like Obama. They dislike Israel and will do anything they can to undermine it. And we're watching this play out. It is unthinkable to me that he is sharing secrets with the number one sponsor of terrorism and turning around and stabbing our friend and ally Israel in the back. Absolutely unthinkable.

In light of that, I'm going to use that as a jumping point to a question that you may or may not have thought about, but knowing you, you probably did. How come the folks who can't stand Israel are so often the same folks who can't stand America?

You know, I— because they don't like our values. They don't like the values that we share. And, you know, Israel is a bright spot in a tough neighborhood. And— but we share the same values. It helps America to be a friend with Israel. It helps Israel to be a friend with America. All of the other countries don't want to see that alliance. That's all the more reason why we need that alliance. The reason that we will get peace in the Middle East is because of Israel, is because of the bond that we share. And so when Kerry or anyone goes and tries to change that or try and undermine that, they're undermining America. And I've never understood that. And, you know, I spent a lot of my time fighting for Israel. And fighting for truth. But that's because if you don't acknowledge the good parts that are around the world, then you'll never be able to make the world a safer place. And Israel has so much to offer. And I think the Abraham Accords was an amazing part of that. We now have peace in the Middle East. Why? Because what you saw was President Trump said, I'm going to defy what every president prior, Republican and Democrat, said. Which was we can only get peace in the Middle East through the Palestinians. And instead he went to the Arab Summit, met with them and said, let's all unite in the name of fighting against terrorism, meaning let's all unite in the name of fighting against Iran.

Mm-hmm.

And what you saw when they signed those Abraham Accords was trust. There was a trust there that they knew that the US spoke the truth and meant it. You know, there's— when I was at the UN, I and the British ambassador were meeting with the Saudi and Emirati ambassador. And the Saudi ambassador was complaining about, you know, why doesn't anyone say anything to the Houthis? Why does everyone blame us for everything? We're trying to go and help people. He's making this entire argument. And I stopped him and I said, you know, for everything you just said, about you and the Houthis. I could say the same thing about Israel and Hamas. Why is it different for you and not for them? And he got really quiet. But afterwards they took me outside and they said, you're right. And I said, then why do you do it? Why do you beat up on Israel so much? And he said, we do it just to appease our constituencies. And I said to both of them then, I said, at some point, you have to have the ability and the courage to tell your constituencies the truth. The day that the Abraham Accords were signed, they were telling their constituencies the truth, that this is a country that would make them better by being a partner with them, not the other way around.

Powerful, powerful story, which brings us to the man who made that possible. I think you agree with me, but if you don't, obviously say so. That is Donald Trump. So I keep saying, I've said this for, I said it for 4 years and I'm saying it now. He accomplished more as president than any president in my lifetime, Democrat or Republican. And that is basically how I assess a leader. What did you accomplish? Not are you nice? Not would I want, would I, do I want you as my neighbor? And I'm not saying I wouldn't, but I'm just saying those are not my questions. Is that a fair assessment?

Absolutely. I mean, you look at the policies and the results of not just foreign policy but domestic policy. We became strong again. We people, you know, countries understood where we were. We made countries better by holding them accountable, by saying this is a two-way street, this is not a one-way street. Domestically, we got better. More people went to work, more women-owned businesses, more minorities were lifted up. You know, we saw people's retirements get fatter, everything. Truly, if you look at every one of those policies, the country got better. Now, while it, the divisions got worse because the Democrats were so upset, for anyone that is results-oriented, all you have to do is look at that record and say, that was pretty amazing. And all you have to do now is look at what's happening and it's nothing but Trump reversals in the name of Trump reversals just to do them. And the world is becoming less safe and the country is not doing as well.

Okay. So here's the toughest part. I am worried about America. I, I did. I have not said it this way in a lifetime of public speaking and writing. I mean, I don't get worried easily. I wrote a book on happiness. I do a happiness hour on my radio show. I am a happy guy. I have a great life. I love this country. I know how unique it is. I've been to 130 countries. This is the greatest. But you can lose it. 35% of young Americans believe that socialism or communism is okay. And, you know, 45% of young Americans tell Pew Research that they, they only believe in free speech if it's not hate speech. So of course they don't believe in free speech because that's an— they don't even understand that what they're saying doesn't make sense. You can't say I believe in free speech except for hate speech because who determines what's hate speech? You do. So you don't believe in free speech. Are you worried?

It's uncomfortable right now, but I'm not— I have faith. I am not worried because I know that we have the ability to self-correct. I know that we have the ability to see which side is up. And I think that the other side is I've been to places that most people will never go. And I've seen things that, that you don't want to see. And I'll tell you that when you've been at the Democratic Republic of Congo, where they use rape as a weapon of war, When I've been to South Sudan and sat with crying mothers whose babies were taken from their arms and thrown into fires right in front of them. I've stood on the Simon Bolívar Bridge and watched thousands of Venezuelans holding their babies in the hot sun to get the one meal they might get that day. They're now killing zoo animals for food. And I've had to look at images of children that died by chemical weapons in Syria. From Assad. If you see that, you know what you come home and you remember is that even on our worst day, we are blessed to live in America. You know, my husband is a combat veteran. He fought in Afghanistan, and he said he wishes that everybody could go spend one day in Afghanistan because you would realize that the homeless people in America have it better than they have it there. But we have to fight for America. We have to stand up for her. And when we see it going backwards, which it is right now, we have to work twice as hard because I know that this country was built off of freedom. It's the best experiment in the world. And what we're seeing is we're seeing this socialist creep in there to where we've got a group of Americans that think maybe government can handle it better than we can. Look at any of the countries that I've been to. Socialism has failed everywhere it's ever been tried. And capitalism will continue to be the single best proof of pulling people out of poverty in the history of the world. But we just have to— we have to soldier on. We have to keep fighting. We have to keep educating. And that's the part— it takes more time, it takes more effort., but we have to do it if we want to save this country. And I know that we will.

So I'll, I'll tell you more worries. And I, look, I devote my life to fighting, so I certainly resonate to your message. The biggest issue to me of all the, the, the bad signs is the free speech issue. That has never happened in American history. Free speech has never been attacked like it is today by YouTube and Google, which owns YouTube, and Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and the universities, the media. I mean, that can be lost. Free speech can be lost.

And you'll never get it back if you lose it. And, you know, the idea that I think the biggest surprise for me is when I saw big tech bring down the president's Twitter feed.

Yeah.

Because I thought, okay, no matter how bad you think what he said sounded, right, you're literally going to bring down the president of the United States Twitter feed and you're going to leave up the ayatollah's. I mean, there's something about that. When we gave— when years ago, when Congress allowed these forums protection liability. The protection liability was for free speech, that no matter what anyone said, that platform would be protected. Never did it say you censor what is right or wrong. What we're seeing now is pure censorship. That's how China started. That's what they started doing in Hong Kong, was they decided, oh, this is too dangerous for the people to hear, or, oh, we need to shut this down. The second Anyone thinks they can shut down or censor something, there's a real problem. And Congress needs to deal with this. This is not something they can let go. They absolutely need to deal with one.

How— what should Congress do? And two, does sound to me like you are worried.

I see it's being abused. So I think that when you see something wrong, you fix it. And I think Congress needs to see that. I think it was right that we give them liability protection from any free speech something someone might say. But something has to be done to let them know that protection's gonna be taken away the second they censor.

And what would that thing be?

Well, I think they have to go into the legislation and look at it and figure out exactly how to do it. But we have to rein them in. This is a conversation that has to be had, and they can't think that they can keep doing this.

So if they were threatened with, taking away the libel protections? I think it's Section 230.

It's 230.

They would, if they knew that that could be taken away, you think they'd stop censoring?

They have to.

Well, I would hope so. So why didn't Congress do this in the 4 years of the Trump administration?

Congress has gotten into where it's nothing but sound bites and we're not seeing a lot happen. I worry so much about the fact that now if someone puts down a piece of legislation, everybody wants to know whose it is before they decide if they like it. That, that's when you know we've hit rock bottom when it comes to that. They have got to get back into the idea that they're supposed to be getting things done. There's no reason we don't have immigration reform. There's no reason we don't have healthcare transparency happening. There's no reason that we don't have someone dealing with big tech right now. The second they started doing that, all of these things need to be done. And what we're seeing is a lot of politicians love to go on TV and give out sound bites and, and scream and complain, but you gotta get the job done. You know, when I was in South Carolina, you had to get the job done. And I think that people need to remind them that they work for them and that we have to continue to make sure that we get results from them as well, especially when you're in an administration like this. We have to see even more being done.

Well, again, I couldn't agree with you more. In South Carolina, is there a danger of the state moving leftward as North Carolina did?

I would like to think that's not going to happen. You know, when I left being governor in South Carolina, we were number 2 state in the country that people were moving to. Really? We were. And so we saw, and there was an influx of people that were coming into South Carolina. And I would always say, you are welcome, we love having you, but don't suddenly decide to change us now that you're here. And so I think that there's always that intent that people come for your tax structure, they come because you're not unionized, they come for all these reasons, and then they suddenly think, oh, they want to make you better. So it's a real issue now that we're seeing congressional seats change hands and some losing states and some losing seats and some winning seats, that we have to just make sure that we educate on why people wanted to come in the first place.

Have you looked into— I'm sure you have. So what's your— I'll ask you then, what is your take on what's happening in schools where thousands of schools are being taught that the true— the false, truly— I'm sorry to use the word— the lie of the 1619 founding of America. I tell my listeners, if your school teaches the 1619 Project, you, you have to take your kids out of that school. Is that too severe a piece of recommendation?

No, because you don't— kids should not be taught that they are racist. And that's literally what the, the critical race theory and all of those things are doing is they are automatically looking at these kids that know no difference. No, they don't see color. They don't see gender. They don't see anything. They're just kids. And then you're going to teach them that they're racist. I mean, this is a problem that really needs to stop. But what happens with schools is you've got the federal government saying, we want you to teach this. So state schools, they turn around and they teach for the money. They don't teach for the kids. So you've gotta get it down to where we're not mandated by the federal government, but that states start to take hold of their own things. And that's why people are so obsessed and really deserve school choice. You know, it goes back, the whole race issue. I'll give you an example as it related to Georgia, and then I'll bring it back. In 2011, as governor, I pushed voter ID legislation and basically said, if you've gotta show a picture ID to buy Sudafed, if you've gotta show picture ID to get on a plane, you should have to show picture ID to protect the integrity of our election process. And I was vilified, vilified. And they said, you're disenfranchising voters. How could you do this? And I said, you know what? If you think I am, we will go to anyone that needs a ride. We will pick you up. We will take you to the DMV. We will give you a free picture ID and we will return you home safely. Of 5 million people, 25 asked for a ride. We have more people voting now in South Carolina than ever before. But this is the part that's upsetting. It's not Republicans that are racist. It's Democrats. At what point do you think minorities are incapable of getting a picture ID?

Thank you.

We are perfectly capable of getting a picture ID. We are perfectly capable of picking the school of our choice for our children. We are perfectly capable of doing all these things. And it's actually Democrats treat minorities like we're inferior, we're incapable, that we can't do for ourselves. And that should be offensive to every minority person out there.

There's no end. Oregon Education Department has declared that its math curriculum will no longer teach that there is only one right answer, and they do it in the name of racial equity, which can only mean exactly what you said— how the left is racist. Blacks can't add, whites add. So since blacks can't add properly, we won't say that there is a right answer to addition.

And look at what Virginia just did. They're now taking out advanced level math because they want to be fair to everyone. I mean, so you're basically— I mean, all of this about equity is— really doesn't make sense. All of this is really about they're wanting equality in the name, but they're not looking at equality for opportunities. No, they're looking for equality in outcome. And so what they're doing is they're dumbing down everybody in education, they're gonna tell you that you're racist.

Mm-hmm.

They're gonna tell you you don't need to work hard. They're gonna tell you you don't need to do advanced math because it's too hard and it's not fair for you.

What happened to the America we knew that half of this country doesn't understand what you're saying?

I think that this is all gonna backfire. I really think this is all gonna backfire because every parent wants a better life for their child and We saw this play out during COVID when they started putting masks on these kids and they started closing schools and making them go on Zoom. Do you know who they hurt? They hurt those that are in challenged rural areas. So for Democrats to say, we're keeping you safe, no. For places like in rural South Carolina where you've got a third grader who both his parents work, how do you think those parents felt with him sitting in front of a computer, not knowing if he could get internet because it was a hotspot in a school bus? And you're gonna sit there and put him in that scenario all in the name of keeping him safe. Well, what he did was he just lost a year of education. And if it— they were in 3rd, 4th, or 5th, principals will tell you they lost 2 years of education. So now those parents have to decide whether to hold their child back. And instead of trying to do things to lift these kids up, you're gonna dumb them down by saying, we're not gonna teach you too hard. We wanna make sure that you all get the same grades. So, I mean, it's a real problem. I'll tell you a story of my daughter. She, a few years ago, she's a nursing student. She's actually graduating next month. But when she first started, she said, Mom, do we believe in socialized medicine? And I said, well, first of all, I don't know what we believe. I said, but I can tell you what I believe. I said, socialism, you have to understand. I said, let me give you an example. So let's say you studied for a test. You studied really hard and you got an A. And let's say one of the other students in the class, they didn't study so hard, they got a D. How would you feel if everybody— if the teacher came in and gave everybody a C? She said, I'd be mad. I go, that's socialism. I mean, we have to put this in frame— in a good context that they understand how this affects their life. Do you want to work hard and be as successful as you want to be? Or do you want to work hard and not get the ability to have that outcome, to be able to know what it's like? We're better if we work hard and we become anything and everything we want to be. I mean, that's how God wanted us to be, was to do our very best with this one life that we were given.

That's right. It would seem elementary to me. So again, what happened? Is it my theory? I'll just bounce it off you. Is that since World War II, the educational system has been taken over largely by people who loathe this country, loathe Judeo-Christian values, loathe capitalism, loathe personal responsibility, loathe accountability, etc. And it's worked well.

And now they're letting unions decide what happens to us. Instead of allowing parents to decide. I mean, we literally saw during COVID unions were given the advantage as opposed to the parents given the advantage. And I think parents are gonna have a decision to make. And I think the one thing your child deserves is a good basic education that allows them the history of where we come from, that allows them the ability to know how to be competitive, and that allows them to be successful. Again, the only ones winning right now are China, Russia, and India because they're not going through any of this in their education. They're doing STEM education. They're pushing their kids as hard as they can. They're trying to get them all of the opportunities of whatever education can bring. We're sitting here fighting over race.

You said your daughter is in graduate school or—

Undergrad.

Undergrad.

Undergrad nursing school, yeah.

So I won't ask where. I don't know if you wanna share that and that's fine. But I tell parents that sending your kid to college is playing Russian roulette with their values. So were you confident when your daughter went off to college that she will retain the values of your home?

So she is— go Tigers— she's a Clemson Tiger like I was. And while I think that there were some things that were challenging for her, we gave her a really good core, a real good basis for when she went to college that she would call and ask us. And I'm proud that she is a conservative. She's continued to be a conservative. Our son My son is a freshman at a much liberal school, and he is a conservative. But you know, when we went to New York to go to the UN, my son was 15 at the time, and I almost didn't take the job because I didn't want to. That was a real concern about putting him in a liberal school and what that was going to mean for him. And he said, "Mom, you have to do this." So we helped him find his school. Do you know, on the first 2 days that he had to report to school, They had grievance counseling because President Trump had won grievance counseling for students, grievance counseling for the parents. And I thought, oh my goodness, what have I done? What have I done?

And so, well, the hope is that it was so absurd, even your son picked up on it.

So the interesting thing is it really could have been a crossroads for my son. And, and what happened was there was one day when they were having the big, do you remember the big national student walkout?

Of course. You mean the one on guns?

Yes. And so I came back from work and I said, oh, you had, you know, wasn't today the student walkout? And he said, yeah. And I said, so y'all walked out? And he said, no. I said, you didn't walk out? He said, no. And I said, did anybody else not walk out? And he goes, no, just me. And I said, what did you say? He said, Mom, he said, if it had been to honor the people that had died, He said, "I would've walked out." He goes, "This was purely political and they knew what they were doing." And I said, "What did your teacher say?" And he said, "She was mad." And I said, "Well, good for you." And then since then he started a Republican club. We're only 5 people in the club, but he started a Republican club. And those, that's what we need to see is the young people instead of feeling the pressure, which I know it has to be hard for them. If you can turn around and find your spot of, realizing there's others around you that may be too scared to say something. But if you say something, if you step up, if you do it, that's how things happen. And so both of our kids, we've been blessed that, you know, they have a conscience, they have a deep faith, but they also, you know, they've got a good conservative core.

And, you know, I'm very happy for you and for the country. Tell your son to join Prager Force.

I will. He's very familiar with you already. He was excited I was going to be on here, so I think he's already—

Oh, that's great. What's his name?

Naylan.

Naylan?

Yes.

Hi, Naylan. How did he get the name Naylan?

It's an Indian name. It's just a—

Oh, is it?

Yeah.

By the way, what language did you grow up speaking?

So I grew up speaking English. My parents tried to teach me Indian. Punjabi.

Punjabi.

They tried to teach me Punjabi, so they'd say, okay, for this this weekend we're only going to speak Punjabi, and that usually didn't last 2 hours. Now I actually regret— I wish I would have learned it, you know. But at the time, what did they speak to each other in? They spoke in Punjabi, especially when they didn't want us to know what was going on.

Actually, my parents did that with Yiddish, so I'm well aware of that, even though we could kind of figure it out a little bit. Yeah, yeah, I had the exact same upbringing in that way. Your parents, if I— and if, you know, any time you don't Well, the answer is fine. Religiously, your parents remain Sikh?

They are still Sikh, yes.

Were they— and I would not be surprised if they were— were they in any way saddened by your conversion?

They were not. You know, the interesting thing is the way I was brought up, you know, we were the only Indian family in that small southern town.

I could imagine.

It was tough. It was— we weren't white enough to be white. We weren't black enough to be black. My father wore a turban. He still does to this day. My mother wore a sari. I mean, they didn't know who we were, what we were, why we were there. And we would get— when I would get teased on the playground, I would come home and my mom would say, your job is not to show them how you're different. Your job is to show them how you're similar. And what she—

intelligent Oh God, that is the antithesis of the left's reaction. Your job is to tell people how you differ from them.

And she said your job is to show them how you're—

that is the answer to the— that is the American dream. That is what we call the melting pot, which is, which is a curse word to the left. The same with me. I mean, I was raised in a Jewish Orthodox home. That's pretty rigid.

Absolutely.

And yet their desire that I Americanize without abandoning my religion, it had nothing to do with it. But you're an American. And it worked beautifully. I wrote a piece about, I had a similar thing to you. I was the only Jew in the Simi Valley Rotary Club.

Oh, wow.

In my 20s in the 1970s. And my whole point of the article was they didn't give a damn. That's America. So what? And they all knew I was a Jew, every single one of them. I was the head of a Jewish institute. How could they not know? And it— but it— it— who cares?

But once you talk about what you have in common, yes, it gives them an ability to relate. That's right. My mom and dad— my mom would actually take us to different churches. And she would say, I want you to see how other people go to God. And so we would go to a Methodist church, we'd go to a Baptist church, we'd go to a Catholic church, we'd go to all these. And she would just say, what we want you to do is we want you to know God. And so when we did the conversion, um, they weren't surprised because at the end of the day they wanted us to have a deep faith. And I think they were realistic enough to know You know, without speaking the language, I could go sit there in a service and I could feel something, but I didn't know what I was hearing. And so I think they knew a conversion was going to eventually happen.

And when did it happen?

It happened in my 20s, my, my young 20s.

Did any individual inspire it, or it was just something you came to?

It really was when I met my husband. I met him my first weekend at Clemson.

You met your husband your first weekend of college?

Yes, my first boyfriend.

First boyfriend. And that was it.

We dated for 7 years. We've been married for 25.

And, well, what year was he in?

He was a sophomore. I was a freshman.

Well, so he really— how did you meet?

We— I had a friend who was from Bamberg, the town I was in. And so when I got there my first weekend, I met up with a couple of friends and he brought his roommate, and his roommate was my husband Michael. And so that's how we met.

Did he have a girlfriend prior to you?

He did.

But you didn't have a boyfriend prior to him?

No.

That's fast. Did your parents like him immediately?

They did. But at the time, that was tough because my parents still wanted an arranged marriage. Not, you know, they still wanted me to marry Indian. And so It took a while for them to accept, but now they love him more than they love me.

So that's how it should be.

Yeah.

My mother-in-law is the same.

Yes.

My wife is cracking up.

She's laughing back there.

Because it's true. It's not really true, but I know what you're saying. That's actually a good thing if the in-law really loves the in-law.

That's very true.

Yeah. No, that's a very healthy thing. Do your kids, uh, are your kids Christian?

Yes, we're all Methodist.

They're Methodist. So you're a loner again. Not exactly many Methodist conservatives.

That's true.

Do we want to hear our video question? Okay, great. All right, take it away.

Hi, Otto, Dennis, and Nikki. My name is Lauren Hayden.

Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. Otto first. Yes. Uh, all right, I can live with it.

I live in Boston, Massachusetts. I'm a law student and I'm worried that the legal profession and thus the entire legal structure of America has gone woke. My professors are teaching me that the Constitution was written for the white man and loose interpretations of legal principles of the past is more important than the conservative view of law and the values of our founding fathers. Almost all of my fellow classmates agree and want to move America towards a more socialist woke ideology. How do I not lose faith when I'm one of the few conservatives, and how do I use my degree for good?

Thank you. The speed with which she speaks reminds me of Ben Shapiro, right? I wonder if they could have a sort of competition.

I'm a fast talker, and I think she beat me on that one.

I am not a stalker, so I'm really aware of it. She's terrific. And it's depressing beyond words that they're teaching at her law school that the Constitution was written for whites. There is no evidence of that. The Three-Fifths Clause, the only one that they point to, was anti-slavery. I mean, the ignorance, uh, in our colleges— oh, black is only three-fifths of a white. No, the whole point was to deprive the South of power in the Congress so that they couldn't further slavery. That's the only reason for the Three-Fifths Clause.

The problem with colleges now is they're forgetting they're just— they're supposed to teach kids not how to think. You, you give the information and let them figure out how to think and what to think. And I think colleges now are coming in and they're just trying to indoctrinate these kids. And we work with a lot of campus reform groups And the idea that students are actually writing papers that they don't believe because they want to get a good grade, or they're too worried to speak out in class. It's painful to hear the stories that we've heard. And what she needs to do is stay courageous, stay strong, say what you think, because even though you may feel alone, there are 10 more people around you that think exactly what you think.

That's right. But Or to put it another way, if you stay in the closet, nobody will know you.

That's right. That's right. It's very true.

That's the only group in the closet in America. Gays used to be in the closet. I fully acknowledge that. That's obviously and happily not the case any longer. And transgender are not in the closet. Conservatives— half the country is in a closet.

We have to find the power of our voice. We have to find our courage. We have to go and we have to fight and it's worth fighting for. And I really think it's this younger generation that's gonna do it. They are so smart and so talented and they are firm in their beliefs. The conservatives that are out there, the young conservatives that are out there are inspirational and they're gonna do what's right and they're gonna make up for a lot of the mistakes that I think our generation has made.

I hope you're right. Also, I wonder how you react to this. I told you I wrote a book on happiness, so I'm very aware of the happiness issue when I meet people and so on. And I, I would love your reaction. I'm sure you've never been asked this. I tell people I meet happy liberals and unhappy liberals, happy conservatives and unhappy conservatives, but I've never met a happy leftist. Does that resonate with you at all?

You know, I just, I say Democrats have forgotten how to smile. They've totally forgotten how to smile. They're angry.

And now they don't have to with masks. Maybe that's why they want masks. So true.

Yeah.

Although you could tell if somebody smiles by their eyes.

Their eyes get tight.

What do you think of the mask issue?

I think it was totally overplayed. All of this was overplayed. Everything about COVID was overplayed. Sitting there, I mean, they thought they could scare everyone. Into staying in their home. And that's fine. We had our hospitals full. There was a time where we had to be careful. But, you know, as governor of South Carolina, we'd have hurricanes, dangerous situations. I always found it's better to put the information out there, educate them, and allow them to make the decisions that are best for themselves and their families.

Oh my God. And so that is so old-fashioned. People should make their own decisions.

Did I hear you say that small business owners, if they wanted to open, yes, let them open.

If customers want to go, who's forcing you to go?

That's the thing. Give them the information and let them make good decisions.

Oh God, let me revel in that. That rivals Beethoven's 7th, I have to say, to put it in my musical language. Let them make their own decisions. See, here's my dark side coming out. People, a lot of people don't want to. A lot of people would like others to make their decisions.

They think it's easier, and it's not. It takes your voice away. It takes your power away. It takes everything you were supposed to be able to use to make you a better person. It takes it away. And the idea that you want government to control your healthcare, defund the police, control what you learn, control the schools, control how you can make money and what money you have to share share with everybody. I mean, total control of government, that is no life. It is no life.

One would think. Before we end our wonderful session, I want to go back to the United Nations. And my question has a preface. You're probably aware that Iran was just named, I think, the chair of the UN Commission on Women's Rights.

It's so ridiculous.

If the Babylon Bee wrote that as a headline, we would start laughing. How does that happen?

I mean, there's a lot of things that can't be explained at the United Nations. And that's the reason we had a lot to fight at the United Nations. But this is exactly why the United Nations will never get the credibility it wants as long as they do things like that. I mean, it's just—

so I'm just curious. So what, what would the French ambassador to the U.N. say to you behind closed doors? You know, this is ridiculous. I mean, Iran was voted in.

You know, I'll give you the example of the Human Rights Council and what happened there. So here we went and we made this big push for reform. We talked to over 100 countries. Saying, look, we, it, you can't have human rights abusers on the Human Rights Council. You have to make sure they have to have a certain human rights record. You can't condemn one country in the world, Israel, when you're not condemning North Korea and Syria and Venezuela and all these others. You know, it needs to be fair. 100 countries we talked to, we said we wanna change it. Out of all 100 countries, they all nodded and agreed with us., but none of 'em would do anything. And finally, one of our European allies said to me, Nikki, y'all have to stay in because if you staying in, you're the one bit of credibility we have left. And I got on the phone and I called the president and I said, it's time to get outta the Human Rights Council because I didn't wanna be the one point of credibility for a council that was a farce. And I think that's the same thing with the, this Commission on Women that Iran's in. Who wants to be a part of something that's a farce?

It's a farce. How was your relationship with President Trump?

Very good, very good. You know, when I, um, he first offered me the job, I said, I've been a governor, I don't want to work for anyone else, it would have to be a cabinet position. He said, done. I said, well, I'm a policy girl, so I'd want to be in the room when decisions are made. I'd want to be on the National Security Council. He said, "Done." And I said, "Well, I'm not gonna be a wallflower or a talking head. I need to be able to say what I think." And he said, "Nikki, that's exactly why I want you to do this." And he was true to his word from the first day to the last day. And people ask me, "How did you get out of there without a tweet?" Then the answer was simple. I told him the truth. When he wanted to do something like get out of the Iran deal, and I saw so many members on the National Security Council that didn't want him to get out, I went to him, I rallied, I went to Vienna, I got the facts, I gave a speech, I laid the groundwork so that when he did it, we had all the reasons to get out and people understood. But when I saw him doing something I didn't agree with, or I thought that it was wrong, I would go say, "You can't do this, but instead you could do X, Y, and Z." And he would say, "Well, how do you see that playing out?" And we would have a conversation. He was very respectful. He always listened. We worked very closely together. We were on the phone or meeting in person constantly, and great foreign policy came out of it. So it was, it was just an honor of a lifetime to defend the country I love so much.

How do you explain the Republicans who call themselves Never Trumpers?

You know, I think that a lot of it is if you talk to them, they don't disagree with the policy.

Right.

They just disagree with the rhetoric.

Then it even makes their arguments less valid.

I mean, you can't deny the fact that his policies were good, that he was the right president at the right time. He was the one that could go in there and just blow things up and say, we're going to start bringing attention to this. And he did that. I think Never Trumpers want— didn't like the rhetoric, but I also think they don't understand. That Republicans are too nice. They're too nice. It's the reason we get railroaded. It's the reason we get run over. Sometimes you gotta fight. You gotta push back.

No more baked beans and 7th to my ears. That's right. So I was on a panel with 3 of my radio colleagues in Denver, I think. And so they said, okay, we're having, oh no, it was here in LA actually. Not that it matters. But the moderator goes, okay, quick round. You gotta answer immediately in one sentence. And we'll begin with you, Dennis Prager. This is not easy, but okay. One sentence. All right. What was Donald Trump's greatest accomplishment? And like, I don't know, like God put the words in my brain. He gave, I don't know, can I say this on our, I don't know if I'll give it a, I'll say it. Okay, I'll say it in a nicer way than I said it on the panel. He gave Republicans testicles. I just used the one-syllable word for testicle. But the— but that's— do you agree with me?

Absolutely. And we have to be bold and we have to be firm and we have to fight back.

Yeah.

Roll over and just take it. It's not okay. And so I look, I think truth to power matters. And I don't think it's all about making people love you all the time. I think it's about proving results at the end of the day and making people better because of it. And I think that's what he tried to do.

Well, this has been a joy. We've got a long— you have something after this as well.

I do.

So do I, if that's any consolation. It isn't a consolation. I think what gives you your strength, aside from, you know, you've been blessed obviously with health and strength, is that you feel you're touching people. And that, that, that's very sustaining, I, I'm sure. Well, you give us hope.

Well, thank you.

So I want you to know that, Nikki.

Thank you. This has been a lot of fun.

As hard as it was to say Nikki.

I said, "Nicky." No, and I gotta tell you, this whole interview, Otto's been snoring the whole time. The whole time.

Yes, that's par for the course. That is exactly right. My voice, thank God, has a different— elicits a different reaction from humans, or I would seek other work. But with him, this is it.

This has been a highlight.

It is. Well, You and Otto, and you and Snoopy.

Yes, I love Snoopy.

That was rare. Well, really, God bless you.

God bless you as well.

Give you strength. Thank you so much. Hope to see you one day in South Carolina.

Keep fighting the good fight. You do good things for America.

America is worth doing good things for.

That's right. Amen.

All right, everybody. It's been a very special fireside chat. That with Governor Ambassador Nikki Haley. I'm Dennis Prager. Tomorrow on Timeless Wisdom with Dennis Prager. Altadena, California. Rick, thank you for calling. Rick Dennis Prager. Yeah, I was just wondering how an argument between you and your wife would go, in that you're the, you know, logical discourse king, and I don't know about you, but that doesn't work with my wife. Okay, I, I, uh, here goes. And Alan can vouch for this because he knows my wife well. I am married to a very rare breed of incredibly logical— in fact, my wife is turned on. I'm being very, very, very revealing here. She is turned on by talk of tax policy. The only woman perhaps in the world where talking about tax policy is stimulating. What a strange person. That's correct. I admit that. So you can't really use her as an example. I am probably, uh, the, uh, the more, uh, I don't know what the word would be, but the more whatever it is. Well, not illogical, but, uh, in any event, uh, let me answer you because your answer applies to vast numbers of marriages. And I'm— this is not my first marriage, and I certainly understand what you're asking. Join us tomorrow to hear more on timeless wisdom With Dennis Prager. Visit DennisPrager.com for thousands of hours of Dennis's lectures, courses, and classic radio programs, and to purchase Dennis Prager's Rational Bibles. We want to take just a second to thank the team at Life Audio for their partnership with us on the podcast. Go to LifeAudio.com to find dozens of other faith-centered podcasts in their network, including shows about prayer, Bible study, parenting, and more.