Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump reportedly intends to bring a noteworthy supporter with him to the final presidential debate on Wednesday night — one of US President Barack Obama’s half-brothers.
According to the New York Post, Malik Obama backs Trump for the presidency, unlike his younger and more famous brother, who supports fellow Democrat Hillary Clinton.
The Kenyan-born Malik Obama, a US citizen now living in Washington, told the Post he will attend the Las Vegas event as Trump’s guest.
“I’m excited to be at the debate,” he said. “Trump can make America great again.”
Malik Obama, who is three years older than the president, rejected claims by a growing number of women that Trump had sexually assaulted them.
“I don’t believe them,” said Malik, accusing the media of bias against the Republican. “Why didn’t they come forward before?”
In January 2014 the Daily Mail uncovered a photograph showing Malik Obama with a traditional Arab headscarf decorated with slogans of the Palestinian terror group Hamas.
Trump fan & estranged Obama bro wears Hamas scarf blaring “Jerusalem is ours-we are coming” & “From the river to the sea” (@Green_Footballs) pic.twitter.com/npZh1AvcsZ
— Noga Tarnopolsky (@NTarnopolsky) October 19, 2016
The scarf, called a keffiyeh, was draped around Obama’s neck and carried the Arabic phrases for “Jerusalem is ours – we are coming” and “From the river to the sea,” both popular Hamas chants.
The photograph was taken at a 2010 conference in Yemen and then posted on the website of the Barack H. Obama Foundation, which supports humanitarian projects in Kenya and was founded by Malik Obama in memory of his father.
Speaking of the foundation, which is not endorsed or directly associated with the US president, Malik said it would achieve a lot more “if I had gotten the support I should have gotten from my brother.”
Donald Trump, 2016 Republican presidential nominee, and Hillary Clinton, 2016 Democratic presidential nominee, speak during the second US presidential debate at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, October 9, 2016. (Daniel Acker/Bloomberg/Getty Images, via JTA)
The siblings last met in August 2015 when Malik said he “went to the White House to say hello. I paid a courtesy call.”
Regarding the meeting with the president, Malik Obama’s said, “As usual, it was a hands-off kind of thing, very businesslike, very formal.”
Trump said, “I look very much forward to meeting and being with Malik. He gets it far better than his brother.”