I Will Vote For Trump – Obama’s Brother

US president Barack Obama‘s half-brother, Malik Obama, said in an interview with Reuters Africa that he will vote for Republican nominee Donald Trump in the U.S. election.

Malik Obama, half-brother of U.S. President Barack Obama
Malik Obama, half-brother of U.S. President Barack Obama

He said he would do so because he likes the candidate and he is unhappy with his brother’s leadership.

Malik, who is in his 50s, told Reuters by phone from, Kogelo, Obama’s ancestral home in western Kenya that he supports Trump’s policies, especially his focus on security.

He appeals to me and also I think that he is down to earth and he speaks from the heart and he is not trying to be politically correct. He’s just straight-forward,” he said.

Malik is a U.S. citizen and has lived in Washington since 1985 where he worked with various firms before becoming an independent financial consultant.

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Malik said even as a Muslim he understood Trump’s stance against Muslims coming to the United States.

I’m a Muslim, of course, but you can’t have people going around just shooting people and killing people just in the name of Islam,” he said.

He criticised his brother’s record in the White House saying he had not done much for the American people and his extended family despite the high expectations that accompanied his election in 2008, both in the United States and Kenya.

Malik and Barack appear to have drifted apart but were previously close.

Malik has visited the president in the Oval office and was also best man at Barack’s wedding.

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Obama’s election created much excitement in Kenya especially in Kogelo village where their father was born before going to study at the University of Hawaii.

Obama visited Nairobi, in the first ever trip by a sitting U.S. president to the East African nation last July, and promised to visit more often when he leaves office.

Malik defended his right to criticise his brother, citing freedom of expression.

To each his own. I speak my mind and I’m not going to be put in a box just because my brother is the President of the United States,” Malik said.

Source: Reuters Africa