Abon’go Malik Obama, the estranged Kenyan-American half-brother of former US President Barack Obama, announced on Wednesday that he will vote for Donald Trump. As previously reported by How Africa, Barack and Malik were originally friendly, but their friendship strained at some point.
On Wednesday, Malik, a businessman and politician, formally endorsed Trump for president, indicating a lack of reconciliation between the two. “I’m Malik Obama. “I’m a registered Republican and voting for President Donald Trump,” the 66-year-old wrote.
According to Vox, Malik has been registered to vote in Maryland since 2016. Malik has publicly criticized his half-brother Barack, Kamala Harris, and the Democratic Party. Prior to expressing his intention to vote for Trump, Malik took to X the day before to take another aim at his half-brother.
He captioned a flashback photo of himself and Barack with the remark “Fake A** when we were brothers”. Malik was a strong supporter of his half-brother prior to their strained relationship. In 2004, he informed the Associated Press that Barack was the best man at his wedding, and “I was best man at his,” according to Newsweek.
But he eventually began openly criticizing his half-brother. In 2020, Malik scolded his sibling for not supporting the extended Obama family in their hometown of Kogelo, Kenya. Malik urged Americans to vote for President Donald Trump over his brother’s former vice president, Joe Biden, describing him as “cold and ruthless”.
Malik spoke to the New York Post from Kenya after releasing his book, Big Bad Brother From Kenya. “He got rich and became a snob,” Malik stated about Barack. “What I saw was that he is the type of person who wants others to idolize him. He deserves to be worshipped, and I do not do so. I’m his older brother, so I don’t do that.
Malik and Barack have the same father, Kenyan economist Barack Hussein Obama Sr., who died in a vehicle accident in 1982. Three years after his death, Malik met his half-brother Barack for the first time. Barack was a 24-year-old Chicago community activist at the time, and the two had been friends for decades before their feud.
Their tense connection began when Barack became president and issues emerged around who of his Kenyan cousins should be invited to his inauguration. The situation worsened after Malik informed Barack of intentions to establish a foundation named after their father, the Barack H. Obama Foundation.
Barack, who had recently been elected to the White House, was opposed to the concept, believing that the Barack H. Obama Foundation could be confused with him.
“We had a large disagreement over the phone because he was not supportive and asked that I take down the website and not continue with the charity. He had his reasons, but I wasn’t having any of it,” Malik writes in his self-published memoir, which he wrote over 22 years, according to the Post.
“We talked until late that night. He threatened to ‘cut me off’ if I pursued the idea.”
Malik established the organization, which faced legal issues in 2011 for claiming to be a tax-exempt nonprofit without proper registration.
Then, in 2014, Malik claimed he requested his brother for help burying their aunt Zeituni Onyango. “We needed to pay for the bills and the cost of her transportation back to Kenya,” Malik writes in his 435-page book. “[Barack] asked how much, and I told him about $20,000.” “This is too much,” he said.
Barack ultimately gave the family $5,000. “She had been really good to him,” Malik writes. “I don’t understand how somebody who claimed to be a relative or a brother can behave the way that he’s behaving, be so cold and ruthless, and just turn his back on the people he said were his family.”
Malik had voiced discontent with Barack’s “very business-like” and “very formal” treatment during his visit to the White House in August 2015. Then, in 2016, Malik made news for claiming he supported Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton.
Malik’s support for Trump sparked online discussions about the intersection of politics and ideology, as well as the importance of family values.
Malik’s conduct towards his brother appeared to be motivated by jealousy and spite, despite his claim to support any political group or ideology.
Malik’s stance has remained unchanged.