U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley cracked nonstop jokes aimed at Republicans and Democrats alike during her remarks Thursday at a charity dinner known as a stop for presidential candidates.
Haley kicked off her speech with a few punches at Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who after claiming for years to be Native American was outed this week when results from a DNA test revealed Warren might be between 1/64th and 1/1024th Native American.
"Two years ago, Trump was here and made some waves with his remarks, so last year you went with Paul Ryan, who’s a boy scout and that’s fine but a little boring," Haley said to guests at the Alfred E. Smith Dinner. "So this year, you wanted to spice things up again. I get it, you wanted an Indian woman but Elizabeth Warren failed her DNA test."
"Actually, when the president found out I was Indian-American, he asked me if I was the same tribe as Elizabeth Warren," she said.
Haley shocked the country last week when she announced she would be resigning from her post at the end of the year.
The first 13 minutes of her 17-minute speech were full of jokes, including about President Trump nominating rapper Kanye West to succeed her.
“The president called me this morning and gave me some good advice. He said if I get stuck for laughs, just brag about his accomplishments. It really killed at the U.N., I’ve got to tell you,” said Haley. The joke was a reference to Trump's telling foreign leaders at a U.N. General Assembly meeting last month that he had accomplished more than "almost any," which prompted laughter from some in attendance.
But in her final few minutes at the podium, Haley struck a serious chord, linking current events to the work of Catholic charity groups worldwide.
"In the last two years, I've been to some very dark places where human suffering is on a level that is hard for most Americans to imagine I've been to the border between Colombia and Venezuela where people walk three hours each way in the blazing sun to get the only meal that they will have that day. Who's giving them that meal? The Catholic Church," said Haley.
The dinner raised $3.9 million for Catholic charity groups, according to Newsweek.