President Barack Obama's half-brother Malik is attending Wednesday's final presidential debate, as a guest of Republican nominee Donald Trump. The president's paternal uncle in Kenya tells VOA that he believes Malik has allowed himself to be used as a political tool by the Trump campaign.
Sayid Obama also says Malik is the only family member he knows who supports the Republican presidential candidate.
"I haven't seen anybody who supports Donald Trump," Sayid Obama told VOA from his home in Kisumu, Kenya. "With exception of Malik the rest they hold [Democratic candidate] Hillary [Clinton] in high esteem."
Sayid Obama says, however, that he does not speak to Malik often and has not seen him since President Obama's visit to Kenya last year. But he is perplexed as to why Malik has accepted Trump's invitation to attend the debate, not to mention why he supports the Republican in the first place.
"I don't see why he is accepting himself to be misused to fight the president," Sayid said.
A US citizen
Malik Obama, a Maryland voter and U.S. citizen currently living in Kenya, has endorsed Trump after a long history of supporting the Democratic party. “I like Donald Trump because he speaks from the heart,” Malik Obama told the New York Post. " 'Make America Great Again' is a great slogan. I would like to meet him." Malik expressed "deep disappointment" with President Obama's administration.
Born in Kenya, Malik Obama met his younger brother Barack for the first time in 1985.
Malik ran for office in Kenya in 2013, promising to combat unemployment and poverty in the county of Siaya by using his connections to the U.S., but lost.
Amos Wangwa contributed to this report
