Saba Ahmed
BornJanuary 11, 1985
Rawalpindi, Pakistan
NationalityPakistani American
CitizenshipPakistan
United States
EducationPortland State University (BS)
University of Portland (JD)
OccupationPresident of the Republican Muslim Coalition
Political partyRepublican
MovementConservatism

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]

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
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

  1. ↑ "The Voter's Self Defense System".
  2. 1 2 Nguyen, Tina (December 11, 2015). "Why These Muslim Republicans Aren't Worried About Trump". Vanity Fair. Retrieved June 17, 2018.
  3. 1 2 "Republican Muslim Leader Wants Trump To Address Religious Prejudice". National Public Radio. February 28, 2017. Retrieved June 16, 2018.
  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.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Mapes, Jeff (August 19, 2011). "Saba Ahmed's unusual race for an Oregon congressional seat". The Oregonian. Retrieved June 16, 2018.
  7. 1 2 3 "Saba Ahmed: Urging US Muslims to vote Republican". Al Jazeera. February 5, 2016. Retrieved June 16, 2018.
  8. 1 2 "Heritage event attendee describes 'a hostile, unfriendly environment'". The Washington Post. June 19, 2014. Retrieved June 16, 2018.
  9. ↑ Freedman, Samuel G. (January 8, 2016). "A Republican Muslim Out to Expand the Ranks". The New York Times. Retrieved June 17, 2018.
  10. ↑ Theriault, Denis (December 2, 2010). "No One Was Going to Die". Portland Mercury. ProQuest 845512930.
  11. ↑ Woolington, Rebecca (January 20, 2011). "Missing Beaverton woman found safe in California hotel". The Oregonian. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
  12. ↑ Milbank, Dana (June 16, 2014). "Dana Milbank: Heritage's ugly Benghazi panel". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
  13. ↑ "Can Anyone Explain Why Saba Ahmed is Wearing That?". Huffington Post. November 18, 2015. Retrieved June 17, 2018.
  14. ↑ Amatulli, Jenna (November 18, 2015). "Total Badass Goes On Fox News In Patriotic Hijab". Huffington Post. Retrieved June 17, 2018.
  15. ↑ Canal, Emily (November 19, 2015). "Saba Ahmed's American Flag Hijab Is A $10 Scarf Sold In Times Square". Forbes. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
  16. ↑ 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.
  17. ↑ Bettis, Kara (November 30, 2015). "Muslim Republican Saba Ahmed works to build bridges". New Boston Post. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
  18. ↑ 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.
  19. ↑ Mak, Tim (November 25, 2015). "Republican Muslims Hope the GOP Hate Away". The Daily Beast. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
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