(Image source from: www.dw.com)
Former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley begun her new year by relaunching her Twitter account, in the process losing all of her posts and followers from her time as South Carolina governor and the United States ambassador to the UN.
Haley cleared the account on New Year's Day, citing an Obama-era rule that governs the social media accounts of diplomats and other federal officials.
"Due to State Dept rules that were changed by the outgoing administration, I have had to clear my personal Twitter account that I have had for years," Haley tweeted Tuesday, the first tweet from her revised account. "The followers, the history, the pictures, and all other content.
"Please refollow and retweet this to your friends," she said. "Here's to 2019!"
Due to State Dept rules that were changed by the outgoing administration, I have had to clear my personal Twitter account that I have had for years. The followers, the history, the pictures, and all other content. Please refollow and retweet this to your friends. Here’s to 2019!
— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) January 1, 2019
The State Department rules were put in place to discourage political appointees from continuing to use their social media accounts after they leave the administration for private-sector jobs or retirement, Buzzfeed reported.
Haley had almost 1.7 million followers when the @NikkiHaley account was cleared. She used the account for years to document her political ascent as well as mixing in a personal touch, tweeting oftentimes about Clemson University football, her best-loved music, and her dog, Bentley.
As of Wednesday afternoon, she was back up to 210,000, and had tweeted 27 times - many of them retweets from some other accounts notifying their followers of the change. Among those tweeting about the new account were conservative commentator Ben Shapiro and first daughter Ivanka Trump.
Older tweets from the former ambassador are archived under the Twitter handle @AmbNikkiHaley.
Haley stepped down from her post at the end of 2018 after two years representing the Trump administration at the United Nations. Prior to taking the job, she served as South Carolina's first female and first Indian-American governor from 2011 until January 2017.
Charlie Kirk, the founder of the conservative student group Turning Point USA, tweeted out Haley's new account on Tuesday by saying "She will be our first female President."
Stupid government rule made @NikkiHaley delete her Twitter account and lose all her followers she earned over 8+ years
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) January 1, 2019
Everyone go follow her account and RT this!
She will be our first female President
She is strong, decisive, a true leader! pic.twitter.com/Hi1Hrv2IK0
-Sowmya Sangam
