Malik Obama, the elder half-brother of former US President Barack Obama, has endorsed the US Republican nominee and former President Donald Trump for the 2024 US presidential election.
Malik, who previously celebrated his younger sibling, Barack’s groundbreaking 2008 election, announced his endorsement of Trump’s candidature in a post on his X account on Wednesday.
In the post, Malik wrote, “I am Malik Obama. I’m a registered Republican and I’m voting for President Donald Trump.”
It was reported that Malik’s endorsement of Trump followed the viral spread of an AI-generated image featuring Tim Walz’s family members in ‘Walz’s For Trump’ T-shirts, which stirred debate due to its apparent flaws, including everyone in the photo having four fingers.
Despite Trump’s controversial proposed ban on Muslims, which contrasts with Malik’s own background as a Muslim, Malik has declared his support for Trump.
Malik’s support for Trump is in contrast to his brother, Barack who has not only endorsed the Democratic presidential nominee, Kamala Harris, but has been projecting Harris as the best choice for Americans in the election.
Relationship between Malik who was once close to his younger half-brother, Barack and served as his best man at his wedding and received a similar honor in return, went south over the years.
Malik supported Trump in 2016 and was invited as a special guest to a Las Vegas debate by the Trump campaign.
Malik, who ran for governor in Kenya’s Siaya County in 2013 and claimed in an interview with GQ that leadership qualities run in the family, has continued to be a vocal Trump supporter amid the strained relationship with his brother.
In 2020, New York Post reported that Malik described former President Obama as a “cold and ruthless” President who abandoned his Kenyan family in their greatest hours of need.
Malik said Obama “got rich and became a snob,” adding, “What I saw was he was the kind of person that wants people to worship him. He needs to be worshiped and I don’t do that. I am his older brother so I don’t do that.”