Saba Ahmed

Last updated
Saba Ahmed
BornJanuary 11, 1985
Rawalpindi, Pakistan
Nationality Pakistani American
Citizenship Pakistan
United States
Education Portland State University (BS)
University of Portland (JD)
OccupationPresident of the Republican Muslim Coalition
Political party Republican
Movement Conservatism

Saba Ahmed (born January 11, 1985) [1] is a Pakistani-American political activist, lawyer, and engineer. 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]

Contents

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 Christmas 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 panel hosted by The Heritage Foundation on the Benghazi attacks, activist Brigitte Gabriel taunted her 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
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Suzanne Bonamici 49,72165.18
DemocraticBrad Avakian16,96322.24
DemocraticBrad Witt6,0037.87
DemocraticDan Strite1,2121.59
DemocraticDominic Hammon9231.21
DemocraticTodd Lee Ritter6510.85
DemocraticWrite-ins4690.61
DemocraticSaba Ahmed2500.33
DemocraticRobert Lettin910.12

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References

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  4. 1 2 "I am Muslim and Republican – and was attacked by people in my party". The Guardian. July 4, 2014. Retrieved June 16, 2018.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "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.
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  8. 1 2 "Heritage event attendee describes 'a hostile, unfriendly environment'". The Washington Post. June 19, 2014. Retrieved June 16, 2018.
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  11. Woolington, Rebecca (January 20, 2011). "Missing Beaverton woman found safe in California hotel". The Oregonian. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
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  13. "Can Anyone Explain Why Saba Ahmed is Wearing That?". Huffington Post. November 18, 2015. Retrieved June 17, 2018.
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  19. Mak, Tim (November 25, 2015). "Republican Muslims Hope the GOP Hate Away". The Daily Beast. Retrieved July 5, 2018.