Saba Ahmed
Saba Ahmed | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 11, 1985 |
| Nationality | Pakistani |
| Citizenship | Pakistan USA |
| Education | Portland State University (BS) University of Portland (JD) |
| Occupation | President of the Republican Muslim Coalition |
| Political party | Republican |
| Movement | Conservatism |
Saba Ahmed (born January 11, 1985)[1] is a Pakistani political activist, lawyer, and engineer with US citizenship. She is the founder[2] and president of the Republican Muslim Coalition,[3][4] former lawyer at the United States Patent and Trademark Office,[5] and former engineer at Intel.[6] She has urged Muslim Americans to vote Republican.[7] She supports Donald Trump,[3] but has said she is "deeply hurt by [his] ignorant views of Islam."[7]
She is an admirer of Brigitte Gabriel.[8]
Biography[]
She was born in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, moved to America when she was 12, and then grew up in Oregon.[9]
She came to public attention as a friend of the family of Mohamed Osman Mohamud, convicted for his attempt to bomb a Christmas tree lighting in Portland, Oregon. Ahmed was interviewed by the press.[6] She posited that he may have been "framed."[10][11]
In January 2011, she was in the local news because her family said she was missing, but she was actually safe in California.[12] At that time her family claimed she was diagnosed with a mental disorder, but Ahmed has denied that.[6] In 2011, she ran for U.S. Congress as a Democrat.[5][6]
In 2014 she published an essay in The Guardian, explaining that she had become a Republican in 2014 because she believes her Islamic pro-life, pro-traditional family, pro-business, pro-trade values are aligned with GOP.[4][5][7] In June 2014, at a Heritage Foundation panel on the Benghazi attacks she was taunted by Brigitte Gabriel after asking about their portrayal of all Muslims as bad.[9][13] In 2015, she made headlines for wearing an American flag hijab on Fox News. She was discussing Trump's comment that he would consider shutting down certain radical mosques after a series of terrorist attacks in Paris. She invited Trump to go to a mosque.[5][14][15][2][16][17][18][19][20]
Election history[]
| Oregon 1st Congressional District Special Democratic Primary Election, 2011 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| Democratic | Suzanne Bonamici | 49,721 | 65.18 |
| Democratic | Brad Avakian | 16,963 | 22.24 |
| Democratic | Brad Witt | 6,003 | 7.87 |
| Democratic | Dan Strite | 1,212 | 1.59 |
| Democratic | Dominic Hammon | 923 | 1.21 |
| Democratic | Todd Lee Ritter | 651 | 0.85 |
| Democratic | Write-ins | 469 | 0.61 |
| Democratic | Saba Ahmed | 250 | 0.33 |
| Democratic | Robert Lettin | 91 | 0.12 |
References[]
- ^ "The Voter's Self Defense System".
- ^ a b Nguyen, Tina (December 11, 2015). "Why These Muslim Republicans Aren't Worried About Trump". Vanity Fair. Retrieved June 17, 2018.
- ^ a b "Republican Muslim Leader Wants Trump To Address Religious Prejudice". National Public Radio. February 28, 2017. Retrieved June 16, 2018.
- ^ a b "I am Muslim and Republican – and was attacked by people in my party". The Guardian. July 4, 2014. Retrieved June 16, 2018.
- ^ a b c d "Who Is Saba Ahmed? Muslim Republican Wearing American Flag Hijab Spars With Trump Spokesperson On Fox News". International Business Times. November 18, 2015. Retrieved June 16, 2018.
- ^ a b c d Mapes, Jeff (August 19, 2011). "Saba Ahmed's unusual race for an Oregon congressional seat". The Oregonian. Retrieved June 16, 2018.
- ^ a b c "Saba Ahmed: Urging US Muslims to vote Republican". Al Jazeera. February 5, 2016. Retrieved June 16, 2018.
- ^ Brigitte Gabriel Smashed Saba Ahmed in Live Debate