UN Ambassador Nikki Haley took the stage at the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner–and absolutely destroyed Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)
In her speech at the charity dinner, one of the few opportunities for major political figures to crack jokes in a friendly settling, the Indian-American Haley went after the decidedly-not-Cherokee Warren.
“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 joked.
“So this year you wanted to spice things up a bit, right? I get it. You wanted an Indian woman, but Elizabeth Warren failed her DNA test,” Haley added.
Both of Haley’s parents immigrated to the United States from Indian. “Legally,” Haley pointed out in her speech.
Warren had long been a target of President Trump, who nicknamed her “Pocahontas” over her widely-discredited claims that she was Native American. But Warren kicked the hornet’s nest earlier this week, when she released a DNA test “proving” that she was between 1/64 and 1/1024 Native American–causing widespread backlash.
Haley, who announced she would be leaving her post at the end of the year, also joked about her boss, President Trump, and her colleagues in the White House.
Haley joked that Trump had called her that morning with some tips about how to win over the audience.
“He said if I get stuck for laughs, just brag about his accomplishments,” she joked. “It really killed at the U.N., I got to tell you.”
She also joked that Kanye West was being “sworn in as the next UN Ambassador,” before adding, “That could actually happen!”
She also took aim at embattled Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
“Jeff Sessions wanted to be here but he recused himself,” she said. “Actually I saw Jeff Sessions earlier today, but not in New York, I saw him on LinkedIn looking for a job.”
Haley’s resignation earlier this month shocked the political establishment–but she appeared to be leaving on the best possible terms with President Trump, who called a rare press conference about her resignation.
“She’s done a fantastic job and we’ve done a fantastic job together,” Trump said, during the meeting. Turning to Haley, he added, “We’re all happy for you in one way, but we hate to lose you.”