Thaindian News

Washington, May 24 (IANS) South Carolina’s Indian American Governor Nikki Haley is trying to cash in on a recent video featuring a state union leader bashing a purple and black pinata, a decorative hanging, bearing her face.

Haley sent out a donation request via Twitter, calling on people to stand with her against what she calls “bullying” from union leaders, according to ABC news.

“Stand with me and help fight back now against the bullying of Liberal unions. Donate here,” Haley tweeted along with a link to a fundraising page featuring the video.

In the YouTube video uploaded Sunday, Donna Dewitt, president of the state’s AFL-CIO, the biggest US labour organization, is seen dealing nine intense blows with a baseball bat to the pinata bearing Haley’s photo and a quote of hers: “Unions are not needed, wanted or welcome in South Carolina.”

The Republican Governors Association also released a one minute video called “Does President (Barack) Obama Condone This?” linking the president to the incident.

The video features a clip of Obama from March when he condemned the controversial comments conservative radio show host Rush Limbaugh made about Sandra Fluke, a Georgetown law student and contraception activist, inter-spliced with footage of the pinata smashing incident.

The video ends with the phrase “Does President Obama condone this kind of behavior from union bosses?” emblazoned across the screen as Dewitt continues to pound the Haley pinata.

The national AFL-CIO said the incident was not “an appropriate joke” and “There’s plenty to talk about in Governor Haley’s awful record” in a serious conversation about how to rebuild America and its middle class.

(Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)