The Slatest

Obama’s Half-Brother Will Be Trump’s Guest at the Final Presidential Debate Because …

Ya burnt Obama!

Win McNamee/Getty Images

Donald Trump’s preoccupation with campaign stagecraft took a(nother) turn for the bizarre on Tuesday when it was announced that President Barack Obama’s half-brother, Malik, would be attending the third and (thank God) final debate Wednesday as a guest of the Republican nominee for president. This is because … because … it’s not totally clear really. Presumably it’s because Obama’s Kenyan-born half-brother is a Trump supporter and that makes it a good burn for Trump of the guy he’s not running against. In lieu of winning the election, Trump is now 100 percent focused on collecting as many sick burns as he can before Nov. 8.

“I’m excited to be at the debate. Trump can make America great again,” Malik told the New York Post. “I look very much forward to meeting and being with Malik,” Trump said. “He gets it far better than his brother.” Now that we’ve disposed of the pleasantries, what gives?

Malik Obama, now a U.S.-citizen, seems a bit peeved at his younger, dare I say, more successful brother, Barack. From the New York Post story, it sounds like a potential source of the animus comes from President’s Obama apparent disinterest in Malik’s brainchild the Barack H. Obama Foundation, which Malik named after the pair’s father. Malik appears to feel like the foundation, that totally isn’t trading on his brother’s name, “would be better able to help the family’s village of Kogelo, Kenya, ‘if I had gotten the support I should have gotten from my brother,’ ” Malik said.

Aha. Anyway, that and other things presumably led Malik to dislike not only his half-brother but also Hillary Clinton and to favor Donald Trump’s fresh approach as the anti-Obama.

Ya burnt!

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