US President Barack Obama’s brother, Malik Obama, has openly differed with his kin saying he will vote for Republican nominee Donald Trump in the U.S. election in November.
BY NT CORRESPONDENT IN US.
Democracy in the US means a different concept from what is propagated in other democracies around the world.
US President Barack Obama’s brother, Malik Obama, has openly differed with his kin saying he will vote for Republican nominee Donald Trump in the U.S. election in November.
In other world continents, most if not all family members support their kindred and as if they should not have descenting voices they are harassed or even chased away if they exhibit such tendencies against their kin.
Malik Obama says he will vote for Trump because he likes him and is unhappy with his brother’s leadership.
From his ancestral home of Kogelo in Kisumu Kenya, Malik told Reuters that he would support Trump’s policies and 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, a U.S. citizen, has lived in Washington since 1985 where he worked with various firms before becoming an independent financial consultant.
Trump’s stance against Muslims coming in to the United States was understandable even to Muslims like himself, Malik said.
“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 criticized his half brother President Obama’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 was the best man at president Obama’s wedding.
Malik defended his right to criticize 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.
