Not all Obamas are with Hillary Clinton. At the
Democratic National Convention, First Lady Michelle Obama threw her
support behind the party’s presidential nominee in a moving, personal speech. President Obama officially endorsed her in June.
But Obama’s half brother, Malik, a US citizen
living in western Kenyan, says he supports Donald Trump and will be
voting for the Republican candidate come November.
“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 told Reuters.
Even Trump’s anti-Muslim rhetoric hasn’t been
enough to deter Malik. “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.
Malik,
who was Barack’s best man at his wedding, said he was disappointed by
his half-brother. Malik claimed the president did little for his
extended family in Kenya and failed to further US-Kenya ties. The president did not visit Kenya, the homeland of the father that he and Malik share, until last year.
Malik’s comments reflect a general disappointment
in Obama’s contribution to the continent. During his tenure, most
African countries have seen more cooperation from China and India than the US.
Previous American presidents are seen as having done more. Bill Clinton established the African Growth and Opportunity Act in 2000, allowing African producers duty free access to the US. And George W. Bush launched a billion-dollar fund to help reduce HIV and malaria on the continent.
Malik may have a particular axe to grind. He said
he is angry his brother did not use his star power to help his failed
bid for governorship in the county of Siaya in southwestern Kenya. He
has also said that the president didn’t support his charity, the Barack
H. Obama Foundation based in Virginia.
“He wanted me to shut it down when I set it up,” he told the New York Post. “He hasn’t supported me at all.”
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