Nikki Haley's book confession about changing husband's name resurfaces: 'He looks like a Michael'

Nearly 12 years ago, now-Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley wrote about how she renamed her husband, which resurfaced amid the Republican primary.

A senior politics correspondent for Vox took to social media on Wednesday and posted an excerpt from her 2012 book "Can't Is Not an Option" in which Haley recounted how she modified how people refer to her now-husband, Michael Haley.

"You may be wondering how 'Bill' became South Carolina First Gentleman Michael Haley," Haley wrote in her book. "After we started dating, I looked at him one day and said, 'What's your name?'" 

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Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley with her husband Michael Haley. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

"'You know it's Bill,' he said, puzzled."

"'You just don't look like a Bill. What's your whole name?'"

"'William Michael.'"

"From that point on, I started calling him Michael, and all my friends did the same. When he transferred to Clemson his sophomore year, my friends became his friends, and before we knew it, he was universally known as Michael. Everyone who knew him before I did knows him as Bill, and everyone who met him after I did knows him as Michael."

"He looks like a Michael," she wrote.

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Haley's 'renaming' of her husband appears to have been first reported in 2012 but is widely unknown today. The X post racked up over 1 million views.

Haley has experienced momentum in the polls in recent months on the heels of well-received performances in the first three GOP presidential primary debates. She leapfrogged Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for second place in New Hampshire, which holds the first primary and second overall contest in the Republican nominating calendar.

Nikki Haley, former ambassador to the United Nations, speaks at the Republican Party Of Iowas annual Lincoln Dinner in Des Moines, Iowa, US, on Friday, July 28, 2023 (Rachel Mummey/Bloomberg via Getty Image)

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She also aims to make a fight of it in Iowa, where the latest polls suggest she is pulling even with DeSantis for a distant second place behind Trump, who remains the front-runner in the GOP nomination race as he makes his third straight White House bid.

Haley's campaign did not provide a comment.

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Fox News Digital's Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

Joe Schoffstall is a politics producer/reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and on Twitter: @joeschoffstall