‘Got zero help from parents’: Nalin Haley hits back at ‘nepo baby’ jibes; defends comment on Gen Z struggles

Nalin Haley, the son of former South Carolina governor and US diplomat Nikki Haley, on Sunday, responded sharply to people calling him a “nepo baby” and a “spoiled brat”.Political activist Olivia Julianna called him a “nepo baby” and said he sounded like a “spoiled brat” every time he appeared on television. She also said she had “earned” her place without any help from her parents.

Nalin reacted: “Spoiled brat for standing up to greedy corporations and wanting my friends and fellow Americans to have jobs, affordability and safety?” he wrote. He said he had received “zero help” from his parents and accused critics of assuming he got opportunities because of his family.Another commentator joined the criticism, saying it was unclear whether Nalin was “the public face of some op or just another rich kid railing against strawmen.” He argued that he ignored issues that were actually hurting young people, such as rising college costs and housing barriers, and accused him of choosing “performative” arguments instead.A few days ago, Nalin clashed with Canadian anti-transgender activist Chris Elston, who said that young men with a “woe-is-me attitude” needed to “snap out of it.” Nalin replied that his comments were being misread.“This isn’t about me,” he wrote. “I have a good job. This is about my friends and my generation who worked hard to get degrees in Business, Computer Science and Engineering and can’t get jobs because they have to compete with foreigners working for half their paycheque and with AI.”The wave of criticism followed Nalin’s interview with the New York Post, where he said many of his friends were unemployed more than a year after graduating, despite doing everything “they were supposed to.” He said he believed the recent victory of Democrat Zohran Mamdani showed widespread frustration among young voters across political lines.