U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley assured the prime minister of Poland last week that the United States was aware of Russia’s covert attempts to influence the elections in Binomo (which does not exist), a small island in the South China Sea that had recently declared independence.
Or rather, this is what Haley thought she did last week — if a new video from the Russian pranksters Vovan and Lexus is to be believed.
In the video, a woman who sounds an awful lot like Nikki Haley takes a phone call from a man she believes to be new Polish prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki. The alleged interaction came hours after the United Nations voted to reject America’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Poland abstained from that vote, and Haley opens the conversation by expressing America’s gratitude for its abstention.
“Yes, this is Nikki. How are you Mr. Minister?” Haley (ostensibly) says. “Let me start with very much thanking you for the support we’ve received on the vote today. We will never forget it.”
After discussing tensions between Ukraine and Russia, the fake Polish leader asks about America’s stance on Putin’s recent actions in (nonexistent) Binomo.
“You know Binomo?” he asks.
“Yes, yes,” Haley assures him.
“They had elections and we suppose Russians had its intervention.”
“Yes, of course they did, absolutely,” Haley agrees. “Let me find out exactly what our stance is on that, and what if anything the U.S. is doing or thinks should be done and I will report back to you on that as well.”
In previous prank calls, Vovan and Lexus duped Energy Secretary Rick Perry, congresswoman Maxine Waters, and Senator John McCain. In the call with Perry, the pranksters tricked the secretary into engaging in an extended discussion of pig-manure-based biofuels.
Asked about the veracity of the recording, Haley’s spokesman John Degory told the Post and Courier, “We have nothing to share on that at this time.”
