New York - Nikki Haley is no longer the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, and is now out almost 1.7 million twitter followers as a result.
Haley announced on Twitter Tuesday that she was forced to get rid of her longtime account now that she's no longer America's top diplomat.
"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," she wrote. "The followers, the history, the pictures, and all other content. Please refollow and retweet this to your friends. Here’s to 2019!"
That meant a new account was created, @NikkiHaley, and the former @NikkiHaley account switched to @AmbNikkiHaley.
A search of the U.S. State Department's website found this rule regarding senior staff who leave the agency, and appears to show that Haley's account had to be "retired" because she used it as her official account.
"All accounts that have been used for official communications are considered Department accounts, and are either retained by the Department for use by the next incumbent or retired in accordance with applicable records disposition schedules, as appropriate," the rule states.
It does not note when that policy was put in place.
Haley had amassed 1.67 million followers on the old handle. According to its account page, it was created back in May of 2009, back when Haley was a state senator in the South Carolina General Assembly. The account chronicled her run for governor, her two and half terms leading the state, and her eventual appointment and transition as ambassador in the Trump Administration.
Haley's recovering nicely on her new social account, despite that it's existed for only a few days. (The account is already verified.) By late Tuesday, it had 132,000 followers and was expanding quickly. That's in part to many high-profile conservative personalities, politicians, and websites encouraging their followers to follow the new account.