By Jon Brown, Christian Post Reporter Friday, November 21, 2025Nalin Haley, the 24-year-old son of former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley, discusses the GOP's generational divide over immigration and other issues during a Nov. 19, 2025, episode of "The Tucker Carlson Show." | Screenshot/YouTube/Tucker Carlson Network

Nalin Haley, the 24-year-old son of former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley, spoke earlier this week of his own journey to embracing Christianity and attributed the surge of Christian conversions among Gen Z men like himself to the work of the Holy Spirit.

During a Wednesday episode of "The Tucker Carlson Show," Haley, who has recently drawn attention on social media for being outspoken against the neoconservative positions often associated with his mother, also addressed what he sees as the widening generational divide among conservatives on key issues such as immigration.

Haley, who was 9 years old when his mother first became the Republican governor of South Carolina in 2011, said after being exposed to both the Sikh and Christian traditions at home, he researched world religions "obsessively" when he was in middle school.

Nalin, whose mother was born in 1972 to immigrants from India who raised her in Sikhism until she converted to Christianity, claimed he ultimately embraced Christianity himself following a quasi-supernatural experience.

"I had an experience where I was researching, and it was as if, in an instant, I heard, 'I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.' As if the knowledge, the truth of God, was placed instantly, after that was said, in my mind and in my heart," he said. "And it's funny, after all these years, I've struggled to really put into words that experience and that feeling."

The strange experience lingered in his thoughts long after, Haley said, adding that he believes it was a private revelation from the Holy Spirit that bypassed his own intense study of world religions to affirm Christ's divinity.

"I had always heard about the Holy Spirit, right? Everyone hears about it. But when that happened, I was like, 'Oh, that's what that is, right?' Because [the Holy Spirit] was just some mythical thing that I had read about, but then it happened, and I was just like, 'This is really interesting.'"

Haley emphasized that he believes his sudden realization that the Gospel is true was not the result of his own efforts.

"The most interesting part, and the part that I kind of like the most, is it was none of my research on these world religions that got me to that answer; not at all," he said. "It was in an instant. I was very much a skeptic of Christianity prior to that, the second before that happened. It was an instant realization that was not of any of my own work."

He said that soon after his experience, he came upon the words of Jesus to Simon Peter in Matthew 16:16-17, which he came to believe applied to his own conversion.

"What made it so beautiful was that not long after that, I was reading the Gospel and I found where Jesus said to Peter, then Simon, 'Blessed are you, Simon. For flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my father in Heaven.' That's what that was."

"And then I also read [in Matthew 7:7] where He said, 'Knock and the door will be open to you. Seek and you will find.' It's just a beautiful thing when you realize that. God is true to His word every single time. It has never left me," he added.

A study that was part of Barna's State of the Church 2025 initiative found that commitment to Jesus has risen sharply, especially among young men. Conversions jumped 15 percentage points between 2019 and 2025 among Gen Z men, and 19 percentage points among millennial men, according to the study.

Drawing a distinction between the nominal "cultural Christianity" that has historically prevailed in the U.S. and "the actual lived faith in Christ" that many young converts are embracing now, Haley said, "I don't know what brought it about."

"The only thing I could attribute it to is probably the Holy Spirit. And I don't know why it's happening now. I hope it grows and I hope it continues to flourish, because it's something our society desperately, desperately needs."

During his conversation with Carlson, Haley also touched on his political belief that the interests of the United States should be the primary concern of its politicians, a position he said is increasingly dominant among conservatives of his generation.

NEW: Nikki Haley's son, Nalin Haley, says naturalized citizens should not be able to hold office, lists off all the things he sees wrong with immigration and citizenship.

Here is what he said:

1. "Naturalized citizens should not be able to hold public office."

2. Limit the… pic.twitter.com/1G4AinnCdo

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) November 20, 2025

"I've only ever been American. I love America. I love the South. I love Southern culture. I'm a Christian," said Haley, who warned that the economic effects of both illegal and legal mass immigration to the U.S. are hurting the prospects of young American citizens, including those like himself who are only a generation removed from immigrants.

"How ironic is it? Someone leaves their country in search of the American dream, to give their kids a better life, only for their kids to grow up and have the job that they want being sent back to the country that they came from? It's ridiculous."

Haley also called for limits on foreign student visas in the U.S., warning some such visa holders are "spies," and claimed naturalized U.S. citizens should not be allowed to hold public office, arguing that "growing up here is a big part of understanding the country."

He also called for dual citizenship to be banned, calling it "the stupidest idea," and insisted that would-be Americans must show "loyalty to America first." He described the idea of holding American citizenship while serving in a foreign military as "insane."

Nalin elaborated that "Con Inc." — a common slang for establishment conservative media and politicians — has failed millennials and Gen Z with "half-measures on immigration ('legal good, illegal bad')" and unwinnable, endless foreign wars that have drained resources that are needed at home.

Jon Brown is a reporter for The Christian Post. Send news tips to [email protected]