A black Trump supporter says family members have threatened to disown him over his backing of the president.
Abdul-Malik Walter, of Williamsport, Pennsylvania, is among the roughly 12 percent of black Americans who support President Donald Trump, and he told The Guardian that has come at a personal cost.
“I like what Trump is doing for African-Americans,” Walker said. “Even in businesses, for African-American ownership. I just think there’s a lot of opportunity for everybody.”
The 35-year-old Walker landed a job working as an HVAC technician almost immediately after his release from prison at the beginning of the month, and he credits the president, whom he first grew to admire from "The Apprentice" and Trump’s regular appearances on the Howard Stern radio show.
“Under the previous president a lot of people were going home to nothing," said Walker, who voted for Obama in 2008 but plans to back Trump in 2020.
Walker said he can't back Joe Biden because he helped write the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, but he showed The Guardian reporter some text messages from family members baffled by his "Make America Great Again" hat.
“You acting like Kanye West,” read one message from a cousin.
Walker's sister threatened to disown him, but he thinks she's joking, and another relative replied to a photo of him in the red hat with a facepalm emoji.
“What the hell’s going on here?” said another confused family member.
