--- description: Barack Obama's half-brother Malik will show his support for Donald Trump at the third presidential debate on Wednesday title: Donald Trump Is Bringing President Obama's Half-Brother to the Third Debate image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5c7895eb45fc4035/6988aa8d0b72e303436eb66f/malik-obama.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [2016 Election](/tag/2016-election/) ## 2016 Election Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Donald Trump Is Bringing President Obama's Half-Brother to the Third Debate by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 18, 2016 11:08 PM CUT  Malik Obama, half-brother of President Barack Obama, in Kogelo, Kenya, on Nov. 4, 2012. Malik Obama, half-brother of President Barack Obama, in Kogelo, Kenya, on Nov. 4, 2012.Ben Curtis—AP by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 18, 2016 11:08 PM CUT [Barack Obama’](http://time.com/4535623/president-obama-donald-trump-stop-whining-transcript/ "undefined")s half-brother [Malik](http://pagesix.com/2016/10/18/obamas-half-brother-to-support-trump-at-vegas-debate/ "undefined") will show his support for [Donald Trump ](http://time.com/4534885/donald-trump-gaffes/ "undefined")at the third presidential debate on Wednesday. The Kenyan-born man, who is also a U.S. citizen, announced in [July](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-obama-idUSKCN10518K "undefined") he would vote for the Republican nominee. Now he tells the New York _Post_ he is “excited” to attend the debate in Las Vegas and believes Trump “can make America Great Again.” Trump tells the _Post_ his guest “gets it far better than his brother.” The Trump campaign confirmed to TIME that Malik would be the candidate’s guest. Malik told the _Post_ he does not believe the women who have come forward to accuse Trump of sexual misconduct, asking, “Why didn’t they come forward before?” He found fault with Hillary Clinton’s work as Secretary of State, claiming that [Muammar Gaddafi](http://time.com/4170821/blair-gaddafi-conversations/ "undefined") had been a friend and adding, “Check out the situation in Libya now.” He says his most recent visit with his half-brother at the White House in 2015 was a “hands-off kind of thing, very businesslike, very formal.” Malik has expressed resentment that Barack Obama has not helped him with his foundation to support the family’s village of Kogelo, Kenya. In [2013](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2013-01-14/obama-s-step-brother-will-seek-governorship-of-kenyan-county "undefined"), he unsuccessfully ran for governor of the western Kenyan county of Siaya. \[[_New York Post_](http://pagesix.com/2016/10/18/obamas-half-brother-to-support-trump-at-vegas-debate/ "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4536121/malik-obama-donald-trump-third-debate/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4536121/malik-obama-donald-trump-third-debate/"},"headline":"Donald Trump Is Bringing President Obama's Half-Brother to the Third Debate","datePublished":"2016-10-18T23:08:31.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T01:16:18.236Z","description":"Trump says Malik \"gets it far better than his brother\"","url":"https://time.com/4536121/malik-obama-donald-trump-third-debate/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5c7895eb45fc4035/6988aa8d0b72e303436eb66f/malik-obama.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sarah Begley","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5c7895eb45fc4035/6988aa8d0b72e303436eb66f/malik-obama.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Malik Obama","caption":"Malik Obama, half-brother of President Barack Obama, in Kogelo, Kenya, on Nov. 4, 2012.","creditText":"Ben Curtis—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4536121/malik-obama-donald-trump-third-debate/","name":"Donald Trump Is Bringing President Obama's Half-Brother to the Third Debate"}}]}] ```