Former President Barack Obama’s half-brother has voiced his support for Donald Trump and launched an online diatribe against Kamala Harris and the Democratic Party.
Abon’go Malik Obama is a Kenyan-American businessman and politician, and the older half-brother of the former president through their father, Barack Obama Sr. Despite an initially close relationship, the outspoken Malik has cast off the fraternal ties, becoming a frequent critic of his brother and the Democrats, and a stalwart supporter of Trump.
“I am Malik Obama. I’m a registered Republican and I’m voting for President Donald Trump,” Nairobi-born Malik wrote on X on Wednesday.
I am Malik Obama. I’m a registered Republican and I’m voting for President Donald Trump.
— Malik Obama (@ObamaMalik) September 4, 2024
Malik, a dual citizen of Kenya and the United States, was registered to vote in Maryland as of 2016, Vox reported.
A day earlier, Malik posted a picture of himself with his half-brother, alongside the caption: “Fake A** when we were brothers.”
Malik Obama on November 5, 2008, at his Kogelo village residence in Kenya. The Nairobi-born businessman has voiced his support for Donald Trump.
Tony Karumba/AFP via Getty Images
Raised in Nairobi, Malik first met the future president in 1985, during a visit by the recent Columbia graduate to Washington D.C.
In a 2004 interview with AP, Malik said: “He was best man at my wedding and I was best man at his.”
Prior to his political pivot, Malik was a strong supporter of Barack, taking part in the 2008 post-election election celebrations in Kogelo, the birthplace of their father, and telling CNN that his brother’s success was “history being made.”
“Of course we’re close” Malik said in a 2013 profile by GQ. “I’m the one who brought him here to Kogelo in 1988! I thought it was important for him to come home and see from whence his family came—you know, his roots.”
Malik Obama holds an undated picture of Barack with himself and a friend outside his shop in Siaya in eastern Kenya on Sept. 14, 2004. Malik has thrown his support behind Donald Trump.
Karel Prinsloo/AP Photo
After several unsuccessful bids for office in Kenya, Malik has since drifted away from his brother and become a forthright Trump supporter.
In mid-2016, he backed Trump in his first run for the Oval Office, telling the New York Post that the businessman “speaks from the heart,” and expressing “deep disappointment” in his half-brother’s administration.
Trump welcomed the endorsement, and invited Malik to attend his third and final debate against Hillary Clinton in Las Vegas.
Malik also backed Trump’s re-election bid in 2020, sharing an image of a fake birth certificate on Twitter, which appeared to show that his half-brother was born in Nairobi, Kenya, rather than Honolulu, Hawaii.
Dated 1961, prior to the establishment of the Republic of Kenya, the image was quickly identified as inauthentic.
While his support for Trump is nothing new, Malik has ramped up his online criticisms of the Democratic Party and Kamala Harris’ campaign in recent days.
DEMOCRATS: ADVOCATES OF ABORTION, GAY MARRIAGE, SEX CHANGE, ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION, VOTER FRAUD.
— Malik Obama (@ObamaMalik) August 31, 2024
“DEMOCRATS: ADVOCATES OF ABORTION, GAY MARRIAGE, SEX CHANGE, ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION, VOTER FRAUD,” Malik posted on August 31.
Other notable barbs include calling Tim Walz “Mr. Afghanistan,” echoing conservative scrutiny over his military record, and calling Harris “Hillary Clinton in another dimension.”
Newsweek has contacted the Trump-Vance campaign to comment on Malik Obama’s endorsement.
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