Nikki Haley calls Vivek Ramaswamy 'scum' after he says her daughter uses TikTok

Republican presidential candidates Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy traded barbs at each other during a fiery third presidential debate in Miami. While Ramaswamy jabbed at Haley, calling her a 'Dick Cheney in three-inch heels', Haley called him "scum".

Republican presidential candidates Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy on Wednesday (local time) sparred on stage during the party's third presidential debate in Miami. Ramaswamy mentioned Nikki Haley's daughter for using TikTok amid concerns that China was using the app as a potential spying tool to access user data. This prompted Haley to hit back at Ramaswamy, calling him a "scum".

"She made fun of me for actually joining TikTok while her own daughter was actually using the app for a long time," Ramaswamy was quoted as saying by NBC News.

Haley then interjected, "Leave my daughter out of your voice."

As the crowd cheered and clapped, Ramaswamy responded, "The next generation of Americans are using it and that's actually the point," he said.

"You're just scum," Haley further said.

In September, Ramaswamy said he joined TikTok, the app owned by Chinese company ByteDance, with the aim of reaching out to young voters. He credited social media personality Jake Paul, with whom he had dinner, for changing his mind to join TikTok.

As the presidential debate progressed, Ramaswamy touched upon the Israel-Hamas war and said he would encourage Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to "smoke those terrorists on his southern border" while he would be "smoking the terrorists on our southern border", CNN reported.

Taking a dig at Haley for her foreign policy views, Ramaswamy said, "Do you want a leader from a different generation who’s going to put this country first or do you want Dick Cheney in three-inch heels? In this case, we have got two of them on stage tonight."

Haley immediately hit back, saying, "They’re five-inch heels and I don’t wear them unless you can run in them."

"The second thing I would say is I wear heels and they are not for a fashion statement. They are for ammunition," she further said.

Apart from Haley and Ramaswamy, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and South Carolina Senator Tim Scott attended the debate. Former US President Donald Trump, the front-runner in the Republican presidential race, remained absent once again.

Published By:
Prateek Chakraborty
Published On:
Nov 9, 2023