NBC News called out for 'hackish' piece citing left-wing voice as 'expert' on Nikki Haley

An NBC News piece was panned on social media for citing a far-left source to comment on Nikki Haley's bid for the presidency while presenting it as a neutral organization.

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley recently announced her bid for the American presidency with a campaign ad that emphasized her Indian heritage, noting she was the "proud daughter of Indian immigrants." The ad was slammed by political figures and commentators, and NBC News reporter Sakshi Venkatraman highlighted some of these critics in a Wednesday piece titled, "Nikki Haley’s campaign opened with an appeal to race. Some Indian Americans say it won’t work."

"[I]f Haley, born Nimrata Randhawa to Sikh Punjabi parents, is trying to make inroads with Indian Americans, experts say it’s not working," Venkatraman wrote.

"She doesn’t represent the community, said Varun Nikore, executive director of the AAPI Victory Alliance, a nonprofit group representing Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders," the NBC reporter wrote. "In fact, Nikore said, ‘there’s a multitude of issues where she specifically and the Republican Party are diametrically opposed to where AAPIs are.’"

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The piece cited Nikore initially as a mere "expert" in its subhed and portrayed the AAPI Victory Alliance as neutral, but the group is an explicitly "progressive" think tank. 

The organization only endorsed Democrats in the 2022 election cycle, according to its own website, and was originally called AAPI Progressive Action. AAPI Victory Alliance's website says it seeks to "build Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) political power across the country by providing education on progressive issues."

The official website also appeared to say that America is a systemically racist country, declaring the think tank seeks to address "structures of racism, xenophobia, and white supremacy that have excluded AAPIs from opportunities" and aims toward "dismantling white supremacy."

Several commentators on Twitter shredded the NBC News article for pitching a progressive group as if it were a neutral actor when discussing Haley's bid for the presidency. 

Journalist Zaid Jilani wrote, "NBC's ‘expert’ for ‘Indian Americans’ is the head of AAPI Victory Alliance, a group that only endorses Democrats. Its advisory council is all Obama alum."

"It would be interesting seeing a sincere deep dive into Indian American politics, the usual campaign/ngo oppo given a gloss of reporting isn’t interesting," he added.

Multiple commentators responded to Jilani’s tweet.

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NewsBusters executive editor Tim Graham did some digging to note a salient connection with the Obama administration.

"Clink the link!" he tweeted. "21 of the 22 people listed tout they were on ‘President Barack Obama's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.’"

"TIL there was an AAPI version of the ‘Latino Victory’ grift," MRC Latino Director Jorge Bonilla tweeted.

Podcaster Josh Barro suggested the same tactic is used among multiple ethnic groups as well.

"So many media outlets have this strategy for reporting on Asian and Hispanic communities — they talk to progressive activists and treat their comments as being representative of the whole community," Barro wrote.

Barro also suggested that the NBC reporter should have spoken to somebody more neutral, "I don’t think Dems are going to lose the Indian American vote. But you don’t figure that out by talking to a guy who runs a council of Indian American Obama alumni. Why not ask a pollster?"

RedState writer Brad Slager asked, "How many Indian American groups did NBC speak with who were in support of Nikki Haley?"

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"Your ‘experts’ are partisan Democrat operatives," Republican communicator Matt Whitlock tweeted in response to the original article. "This is quick hackish."