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]
Biography
She was born in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, moved to America when she was 12, and then grew up in Oregon.[8]
She came to public attention as a friend of the family of Mohamed Osman Mohamud, convicted for his attempt to bomb a Christimas tree lighting in Portland, Oregon. Ahmed was interviewed by the press.[6] She posited that he may have been "framed."[9][10]
In January 2011, she was in the local news because her family said she was missing, but she was actually safe in California.[11] 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.[8][12] 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][13][14][2][15][16][17][18][19]
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
- ^ https://votesmart.org/candidate/biography/134561/saba-ahmed
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b "Heritage event attendee describes 'a hostile, unfriendly environment'". The Washington Post. June 19, 2018. Retrieved June 16, 2018.
- ^ Freedman, Samuel G. (January 8, 2016). "A Republican Muslim Out to Expand the Ranks". The New York Times. Retrieved June 17, 2018.
- ^ Theriault, Denis (December 2, 2010). "No One Was Going to Die". Portland Mercury. ProQuest 845512930.
- ^ Woolington, Rebecca (January 20, 2011). "Missing Beaverton woman found safe in California hotel". The Oregonian. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
- ^ Milbank, Dana (June 16, 2014). "Dana Milbank: Heritage's ugly Benghazi panel". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
- ^ "Can Anyone Explain Why Saba Ahmed is Wearing That?". Huffington Post. November 18, 2015. Retrieved June 17, 2018.
- ^ Amatulli, Jenna (November 18, 2015). "Total Badass Goes On Fox News In Patriotic Hijab". Huffington Post. Retrieved June 17, 2018.
- ^ Canal, Emily (November 19, 2015). "Saba Ahmed's American Flag Hijab Is A $10 Scarf Sold In Times Square". Forbes. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
- ^ Nigh, Ben; Shamsian, Jacob (December 5, 2015). "This Muslim woman is a proud Republican — and she thinks Trump will come around on Islam". Business Insider. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
- ^ Bettis, Kara (November 30, 2015). "Muslim Republican Saba Ahmed works to build bridges". New Boston Post. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
- ^ Goldmacher, Shane (December 11, 2015). "Republican Muslim Coalition founder to Trump: Come to a mosque with me". Politico. Archived from the original on July 5, 2018. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
- ^ Mak, Tim (November 25, 2015). "Republican Muslims Hope the GOP Hate Away". The Daily Beast. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
External links
- Living people
- 21st-century United States government officials
- 21st-century American lawyers
- American Muslims
- Portland State University alumni
- Intel people
- Pakistani emigrants to the United States
- People from Rawalpindi
- Oregon Democrats
- United States Department of Commerce officials
- Washington, D.C. Republicans
- 1985 births