Nikki Haley’s Son Nalin Blasts Vivek Ramaswamy Over ‘Blasphemous’ Holy Trinity Comparison to Hindu Deities
- The controversy centers on remarks Ramaswamy made during a Turning Point USA event in Montana, where he drew theological parallels between Christian and Hindu concepts of the divine.
A fresh clash has erupted between two prominent Indian American Republican families, with Nalin Haley—son of former UN Ambassador and South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley—sharply criticizing Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy for comments comparing the Christian Holy Trinity to Hindu deities.
The controversy centers on remarks Ramaswamy made during a Turning Point USA event in Montana, where he drew theological parallels between Christian and Hindu concepts of the divine.
“A Slap in the Face to Every Christian”
Nalin Haley, a 24-year-old recent convert to Catholicism, took to X (formerly Twitter) with a scathing rebuke of Ramaswamy’s comments.
“Just when you thought it couldn’t get worse. Comparing the Holy Trinity to your 330 million gods is blasphemous, disrespectful, and a slap in the face to every Christian,” Nalin wrote, according to Livemint. “If you’re gonna run for governor in a state that is Christian, have the decency to learn our faith and not slander it.”
The post represented a significant escalation in the ongoing tensions between the Haley and Ramaswamy camps, which date back to the contentious 2024 Republican presidential primary when both Nikki Haley and Ramaswamy competed for their party’s nomination.
According to the Free Press Journal, Ramaswamy’s comments came during an exchange with a young Christian attendee at a University of Minnesota event who questioned whether his Hindu faith aligned with “Christian values.”
Ramaswamy responded by explaining that he practices monotheism through the Vedanta tradition of Advaita philosophy and suggested conceptual similarities between Hindu understanding of divine manifestations and the Christian doctrine of the Holy Trinity. “Doesn’t make you a polytheist, does it?” Ramaswamy reportedly asked, adding that both faiths reconcile “the one and the many.”
Backlash and Response
Nalin Haley’s post drew hundreds of reactions online, with many users questioning his criticism given his own family’s Sikh heritage—his maternal grandparents are Sikh immigrants from India who settled in South Carolina.
One user challenged him: “What happened to you man? First there aren’t 330 million gods as you claim. And by your definition where does that put ur Sikh grandparents,” according to Livemint.
Nalin’s forceful defense of Christianity comes after his own religious conversion. According to Catholic News Agency, he was received into the Catholic Church on Palm Sunday, April 13, 2025.
Nalin responded: “My Sikh grandparents never disrespected the Christian faith and compared their God to the Holy Trinity.”
Another commenter wrote: “You are being unnecessarily harsh (with wrong facts) towards his Hindu faith. Very un-Christian behaviour, sorry to say,” Livemint reported.
Nalin’s forceful defense of Christianity comes after his own religious conversion. According to Catholic News Agency and the National Catholic Register, Nalin Haley was received into the Catholic Church on Palm Sunday, April 13, 2025. This marks a departure from both his mother’s Methodist faith and his grandparents’ Sikhism.
The younger Haley had previously attended a Christian high school while his mother served as UN Ambassador under President Trump.
This is far from the first time Nalin has targeted Ramaswamy. During his mother’s presidential campaign, the Villanova University graduate famously nicknamed Ramaswamy “Pennywise” after the clown villain from Stephen King’s “It,” according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
According to Livemint, Nalin also recently mocked Ramaswamy’s patriotic rhetoric, saying America is “NOT an idea. Otherwise Liberia, which has a similar constitution, would be like the U.S..” He added: “Also, the makeup isn’t working for you.”
Ramaswamy’s Ohio Campaign
Ramaswamy, 39, is currently running to become Ohio’s next governor in the 2026 election, seeking to replace term-limited Republican Governor Mike DeWine. The biotech entrepreneur and former presidential candidate withdrew from his role as co-head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) alongside Elon Musk earlier this year to focus on the gubernatorial race.
Despite never having held elective office, Ramaswamy gained national prominence during his 2024 presidential campaign, where he positioned himself as a staunch supporter of Donald Trump and an outspoken advocate for conservative policies.
The exchange highlights complex dynamics within the Republican Party regarding religion, identity, and political rhetoric. Ohio, where Ramaswamy is campaigning, has a predominantly Christian population, making religious appeals and theological debates potentially significant in electoral politics.
For both men—each representing a new generation of Indian American political figures—questions of faith, heritage, and American identity have become intertwined with their political trajectories. While Ramaswamy has emphasized constitutional principles over religious tests for office, Nalin Haley’s criticism suggests that theological differences may remain a flashpoint in Republican politics.
Neither Nikki Haley nor Vivek Ramaswamy had publicly commented on the latest exchange as of Thursday evening.
This story was aggregated by AI from several news reports and edited by American Kahani’s News Desk.
