Barack Obama's half-brother to vote for Donald Trump 'to make America great again'

Mr Obama said he had become disappointed with his brother's adminisntration

Andrew Buncombe
Philadelphia
Sunday 24 July 2016 18:24 BST
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Mr Obama said he had become disappointed with his brother's administration
Mr Obama said he had become disappointed with his brother's administration (Getty)

Donald Trump has quickly seized on his most recent endorsement for president after it was revealed Barack Obama’s half-brother intends to vote for him.

Malik Obama, who has a had a falling out with his relative in the White House, told the New York Post that “I like Donald Trump because he speaks from the heart ... Make America Great Again is a great slogan. I would like to meet him.”

The paper said that Malik Obama “spoken to his brother a year ago and was miffed that he did nothing to help his own foray into politics” when he ran for governor of the southwestern Kenyan county of Siaya in 2013.”

Speaking from his home in the Kenyan village of Kogelo, Mr Obama, 58, a longtime Democrat, said that his deep disappointment in his brother’s administration has led him to recently switch allegiance to “the party of Lincoln.”

The last straw, he said, came earlier this month when FBI Director James Comey recommended not prosecuting Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton over her use of a private e-mail servers while secretary of state. “She should have known better as the custodian of classified information,” said Mr Obama.

Mr Trump was quick to point out the news on Twitter, said that Mr Obama “was probably treated badly by the president - like everyone else”.

Malik Obama holds a photograph showing him and his brother
Malik Obama holds a photograph showing him and his brother (AP)

Mr Obama was also reportedly annoyed about the role played by his brother and Ms Clinton in the demise of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Malik Obama dedicated his 2012 biography of his late father to Gaddafi and others who were “making this world a better place.”

“I still feel that getting rid of Gaddafi didn’t make things any better in Libya,” he said. “My brother and the secretary of state disappointed me in that regard.”

The president’s and Malik’s father, Barack Obama Sr., left Kenya in 1959 when Malik was a year old and his mother was pregnant with his sister Auma. Obama Sr. enrolled at the University of Hawaii, where he met and married the president’s mother, Stanley Ann Dunham. Malik Obama didn’t meet his younger half-brother until 1985. President Obama, 54, has seven half-siblings from both sides of his family, the Post said.

Mr Obama plans to return to the US to vote for Mr Trump in November. Mr Obama used to live in Maryland, where he worked for many years as an accountant and is registered to vote there.

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