Sen. Ron Johnson will square off against his Democratic predecessor Russ Feingold in November. | Getty Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson calls Nikki Haley an 'immigrant'

Sen. Ron Johnson mistakenly called South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley an "immigrant" on Wednesday.

Johnson, who will square off against his Democratic predecessor Russ Feingold in November, was discussing the backlash over Haley's State of the Union response — in which she warned against “the siren call of the angriest voices” — when the Republican lawmaker incorrectly attributed parts of her speech to her experience as an immigrant during a radio interview on Chicago's WLS.


“[Le]t’s face it: No two people agree on everything. And Governor Haley is an immigrant. She has powerful stories of being an immigrant and experiencing discrimination herself,” Johnson said. “And so she’s obviously gonna react different to somebody who’s never experienced that. I tend to align myself more with Governor Haley’s comments on the issue.”

The South Carolina governor was born in South Carolina, but her parents are Indian immigrants.

Johnson's comments, which he made on WLS's John Howell show and posted on his own YouTube account, were first reported by Buzzfeed News. Johnson chairs the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

In the most recent Marquette Law School poll of registered voters, published on Nov. 19, Johnson trails Feingold by 11 percentage points, 49 percent to 38 percent.