Islamabad, Pakistan – Moments after Pakistan’s newly-elected Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif concluded his victory speech amid a ruckus in parliament, Omar Ayub Khan got up to address the house from the opposition benches.
Posters of Imran Khan, the chairman of Omar’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party and a former Pakistani prime minister, were pasted on his desk and on those of his colleagues.
Wearing a red-and-green scarf, the colours of his PTI, 54-year-old Omar invoked a line from Shakespeare’s Hamlet: “There is something rotten in the system of Pakistan today.”
According to Imran Khan, what is rotten is the role of Pakistan’s military establishment – which the former cricket captain-turned-politician accused of interfering in the country’s politics to remove him from power in 2022, a charge the army denies.
Omar, otherwise a keen adventure sports enthusiast with a passion for aviation and skydiving, has been far more circumspect, training his guns on the political parties that have combined to form the government: Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN), the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and other smaller parties.
“Their faces betray the fact they are unhappy. They know a theft took place,” he said in parliament, looking at the government benches. “They know the system cannot function like this. They have stolen our mandate.”
Yet the speech cemented his status as the parliamentary face of a party that appears to be relishing its stature as a force that has challenged the role of the military in Pakistan’s politics.
It is a legacy that Omar knows better than most.
It was his grandfather General Ayub Khan who delivered the first devastating blow to Pakistan’s fledgling democracy when he became its first martial law administrator in 1958 and ruled the country for the next 11 years. Ayub’s tenure put in place a template that others would follow: Military rulers have directly governed Pakistan for more than 30 of its 77 years as an independent nation.
Now, Ayub’s grandson is pitching a new path for Pakistan, riding on the popularity of the PTI, which defied the odds in the February 8 elections to emerge as the party whose candidates won the most seats, despite not even being able to use their party symbol.
But the PTI was not Omar Ayub Khan’s first political calling. Or even his second.
Party-hopper to PTI loyalist
Until 2018, Omar Ayub Khan was known as a party-hopper in Pakistan. He contested the 2008, 2013 and 2018 elections representing three different parties, making him one of the most talked-about turncoats in the country.
That perception began to shift nearly two years ago when Imran Khan was voted out of power in parliament through a no-confidence motion, which the PTI accused the military of engineering.
To protest his removal and demand a snap election, Imran Khan, with tens of thousands of his supporters, planned a long march from Peshawar City to the capital Islamabad in May 2022, and gave the responsibility of organising the protest to Omar.
But the march was met with a brutal crackdown by the government. Omar was among those who were thrashed viciously.
“As I was trying to navigate past the obstacles to allow Khan’s container to pass through, police unleashed their fury on me, beating me non-stop with sticks,” Omar told Al Jazeera on Sunday as he sat for an interview in the living room of his residence in Islamabad’s leafy F-6 neighbourhood, hours after his speech in the parliament.
A red carpet covered the floor of the vast room, with mirrors lining the walls.
Omar cleared his throat – it was itchy, he said, and apologised – as he recalled the attack two years ago, which left him hospitalised for three days.
“I had vertigo, which I never got [previously] despite being an aviator. I had bruises all over my body. My ear drum almost ruptured. The doctors said if the beating on my back was merely inches above, I would have had irreversible spinal injury,” he said.
Meanwhile, images of his bruised body went viral – sealing his position as a prominent leader of the PTI.
For a man whose family has been a part of Pakistan’s elite since even before independence, it was a turning point.
His great-grandfather was a cavalry officer in the British army during the colonial rule over the subcontinent. Omar’s grandfather Ayub Khan ruled over Pakistan for more than a decade (1958-1969) with an iron hand, giving the country its second constitution in 1962, while also conducting elections in the same decade, which were rife with accusations of manipulation.
Omar’s father, Gohar Ayub, also briefly served in the military before joining politics and rising to be the speaker of the National Assembly as well as a foreign minister under three-time Prime Minister and PMLN supremo Nawaz Sharif in the 1990s.
Omar’s mother, Zeb Gohar Ayub, was the daughter of Habibullah Khattak, a top military general in the 1960s who was seen as one of the contenders to become the army chief. Similarly, his maternal uncle, Ali Kuli Khan, was also touted as a potential candidate for the army chief in the late 1990s.
Yet, when the security forces decided to unleash their fury on Omar, none of that mattered.
Musharraf’s man
Omar was born on January 26, 1970, in Karachi, the country’s largest city – and its first capital before his grandfather moved it to Islamabad in the early 1960s – in the southern province of Sindh. His family, though, belongs to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s town of Haripur in the Hazara region, roughly 125km (77 miles) from the current capital.
He says his earliest memories are of numerous visits to Peshawar jail in the mid-1970s where his father, Gohar Ayub Khan, was imprisoned by then-Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
Gohar fought the 1977 elections from jail and won, marking his entry into parliament. A little more than a decade later, he turned to Omar to help.
“I went to the United States in 1989 to study but the next year, my father asked me if I could take a semester off to help him run the election campaign,” Omar told Al Jazeera.
Omar watched his father become a key PMLN leader in the 1990s while he finished his master’s degree in business studies from George Washington University in the US.
Following a military coup by General Pervez Musharraf in 1999, which overthrew the then-Nawaz Sharif government, the PMLN found itself deserted by a large number of leaders, including Omar’s father Gohar, who joined the breakaway Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PMLQ) party.
After declaring himself the president in 2001, Musharraf conducted an election the following year, which Omar’s father was declared ineligible to contest.
So Omar contested on the PMLQ ticket and became a parliamentarian for the first time. His mother Zeb also became a member of a seat reserved for women for the same party.
He rose to become a parliamentary secretary and eventually, a cabinet minister between 2004 and 2007, under the premiership of Shaukat Aziz.
Defending his tenure under a military ruler’s government, Omar said those were the days of fast-paced economic and technological changes, which were important for the people.
“There was a boom in different sectors. TV channels emerged and telecoms came to Pakistan. It was a period of development and delivery, which is what my constituents wanted,” he said. “You work for your people, your constituents. They vote for you to resolve their development issues. The ideological framework did not exist in politics then.”
However, he lost the 2008 general election, held only months after the assassination of former two-time Prime Minister and PPP leader Benazir Bhutto. The PPP went on to form the government.
Omar Ayub Khan was part of the federal cabinet between 2004 and 2007 during the reign of General Pervez Musharraf [File: T Mughal/EPA]
‘You help us, we’ll help you’
For all of the democratic ideals that Omar champions, it is cold political pragmatism that has been his constant ally.
After his loss in the 2008 election, Omar says the PMLN approached him in 2011.
“Despite my father’s connections with the PMLN, I never developed any personal relations with the Sharifs. So, when PMLN’s local team approached me, they said, ‘You help us; we will help you,’ and that’s how I joined the PMLN,” he explained.
However, he said, the PMLN was not his preferred party then. “The PTI was an emerging force at the time, and while we had good terms with Imran Khan’s family, I never personally knew him. I was keen to join them but they picked my rival in the area, so I went with the party that offered me a place.”
While Omar won a seat in the 2013 elections, contesting for the PMLN against his PTI rival, his victory was short-lived. In 2015, the Supreme Court ordered a re-poll on the seat due to “irregularities”.
Omar decided not to contest the polls due to his mother’s illness; the former parliamentarian passed away later that same year.
While still part of the PMLN, Omar said he was contacted by the PTI’s team in his constituency in 2018, merely months before the general elections.
“Upon receiving an invite from Imran Khan to visit Bani Gala, his residence in Islamabad, I visited where he warmly embraced me and welcomed me to the fold. I have always admired him,” he said.
Omar Ayub Khan with Asad Umar, his PTI colleague, after being attacked by police in May 2022 [Courtesy of Omar Ayub Khan]
Asad Umar, a former federal minister and Omar’s predecessor as PTI’s secretary general, told Al Jazeera that while he only met Omar after he joined the party, their working relationship flourished immediately.
Calling his former colleague a “humble, mature” politician, Umar said the current secretary general was someone who has an “outstanding” understanding of macro-political issues.
“He is deeply connected with his constituency and works closely with them. But with his family pedigree, he is also keenly aware of our system and he is someone with high integrity,” Umar told Al Jazeera.
He also defended his friend and former cabinet colleague’s decision to switch parties, saying that before PTI’s emergence in 2011, most political parties functioned in a similar manner and were very traditional in their approach.
“Since joining PTI, I can tell you that Omar has always exhibited behaviour that is consistent with the party’s ideology. Our political parties are divided on ideological lines. It will be rare to see a top PTI official joining the ranks of the PPP or PMLN – or vice-versa,” he added.
Defiance or desperation?
If Omar is that rare politician, his critics question the intentions behind his previous decisions to switch parties and his current stance of standing by the PTI, asking if it is “defiance” or “desperation”.
“Is he loyal to the PTI? Or is it forced because nobody is willing to associate with him among other political parties? It is not a revolution; it is out of necessity,” a political rival who requested anonymity told Al Jazeera, adding that Imran Khan’s imprisonment due to multiple convictions might lead others in the PTI to see it as an opportunity to rise to the top.
Journalist Azaz Syed said that Omar Ayub “figured out” that only with the PTI could he rise to the top tier, something he failed to achieve with other parties.
“He is now in tier 1 in the PTI, and he also saw how popular the party is. But if you notice his speeches closely, he is still not criticising the military at all, instead focusing on civilians,” he told Al Jazeera.
When it came to power in 2018, the PTI was also accused of cosying up to the military, until the relationship between Imran Khan and the army soured.
Today, when the PTI is seen by many in Pakistan as railing against the establishment – a euphemism for the military – Omar is treading a more cautious line. He insists he is nothing but a patriot.
“I have not met with military people. Sure, we have close family ties but I am a politician. My leader is a patriot and a democrat, and so am I. We will take parliamentary, democratic steps to recover our lost mandate,” he said.
Omar Ayub Khan (third from right) lost the contest for the premiership to Shehbaz Sharif as he secured only 92 votes [Courtesy of Omar Ayub Khan]
Islamabad-based journalist Syed added that if Omar is nominated as the party’s opposition head, it will be a tactically smart decision by the PTI.
It would show, he said, that “the PTI is ready, and even willing to negotiate with the establishment.
“Omar has a past that hews closely to them, and while he knows what to say, more importantly, he also knows what not to say.”
Muhammad Ali Durrani, a longtime acquaintance as well as a colleague in the cabinet under Musharraf’s rule, expressed similar sentiments.
“For me, what stands out about Omar is his care. I have never seen him engage in loose talk. He is very careful, cautious and guarded in what he talks about,” the former parliamentarian told Al Jazeera.
A leader from the PMLN, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Al Jazeera that having Omar at the helm in parliament gives the PTI a rare combination: an able, experienced politician in charge, who can also help pave the way for their reconciliation with the establishment.
“He is a very experienced politician and has relations with politicians as well as the establishment. He can deliver in parliament as an effective opposition leader, while also sending a message to the establishment to negotiate with and provide the party space without further agitation or provocation.”
In his speeches in parliament and otherwise, Omar has consistently demanded that the party’s mandate be returned and was categorical that the decision to sit in the opposition, despite the party winning the highest number of seats, was a decision made by party leader Imran Khan – and one that he agrees with. It is a contrast from the last time the PTI was in opposition, during the PMLN government between 2013 and 2018, when Imran Khan’s party conducted most of its politics on the streets, not in parliament.
“The last two years have hardened us, trained us. Khan has said this numerous times: we will not take a weak government. There is no compromise to be made with parties such as the PPP, which have ideologically nothing like us, which work on patronage and largesse, whereas we are a party represented by the whole country,” Omar said.
“We will remain in opposition and give the government a tough time.”
‘New chapter’
At a time when Imran Khan is in jail, faced with a deluge of cases and convictions – and the PTI is grappling with a crackdown on its leaders – Omar offers another quality to his party chief: loyalty.
Even today, six years after being part of the party, Omar does not know why or how he managed to get so close to Khan, but offers clues.
“I think he saw my loyalty and my commitment, and trusted me,” Omar says.
After May 9 last year, when Khan was briefly detained on corruption charges, a large number of party workers stormed the streets and rioted.
The state retaliated, arresting and jailing thousands of PTI supporters, while dozens of its leaders were forced to quit the party – many under the alleged pressure of the military.
Ahead of the February 8 vote, with PTI in clear ascendancy according to opinion polls, the party’s election symbol was cancelled for violating electoral laws, forcing hundreds of its candidates to fight as independents.
Omar contested the National Assembly seat from Haripur in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where his family roots lie, polling some 192,000 votes to defeat his PMLN rival.
The PTI, despite charges of rigging worsened by unusually delayed results, emerged as the largest party by winning 93 seats.
No political party won a clear majority in the 336-member National Assembly but the PMLN with 75 seats and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) with 54 formed an alliance, like they did in 2022 to remove Imran Khan from power.
With Khan in jail and barred from contesting, Omar was declared the PTI’s prime ministerial candidate – a mark of the deep trust his chief has in him as the party struggled to stay in the race for power.
“Credit must be given to him for withstanding the pressure. His resistance marks a new chapter for himself and his family history,” Durrani, the former federal minister said.
“He might have been tempted to leave PTI but instead, he chose to side with public sentiment in a pro-democratic act. Full marks to him.”
NEW YORK (AP) — In a new video posted early Election Day, Beyoncé channels Pamela Anderson in the television program “Baywatch” – red one-piece swimsuit and all – and asks viewers to vote.
In the two-and-a-half-minute clip, set to most of “Bodyguard,” a four-minute cut from her 2024 country album “Cowboy Carter,” Beyoncé cosplays as Anderson’s character before concluding with a simple message, written in white text: “Happy Beylloween,” followed by “Vote.”
At a rally for Donald Trump in Pittsburgh on Monday night, the former president spoke dismissively about Beyoncé’s appearance at a Kamala Harris rally in Houston in October, drawing boos for the megastar from his supporters.
“Beyoncé would come in. Everyone’s expecting a couple of songs. There were no songs. There was no happiness,” Trump said.
She did not perform — unlike in 2016, when she performed at a presidential campaign rally for Hillary Clinton in Cleveland – but she endorsed Harris and gave a moving speech, initially joined onstage by her Destiny’s Child bandmate Kelly Rowland.
“I’m not here as a celebrity, I’m not here as a politician. I’m here as a mother,” Beyoncé said.
“A mother who cares deeply about the world my children and all of our children live in, a world where we have the freedom to control our bodies, a world where we’re not divided,” she said at the rally in Houston, her hometown.
“Imagine our daughters growing up seeing what’s possible with no ceilings, no limitations,” she continued. “We must vote, and we need you.”
Harris used the song in July during her first official public appearance as a presidential candidate at her campaign headquarters in Delaware. That same month, Beyoncé’s mother, Tina Knowles, publicly endorsed Harris for president.
Beyoncé gave permission to Harris to use the song, a campaign official who was granted anonymity to discuss private campaign operations confirmed to The Associated Press.
Outside of sports and a “Cold front coming down from Canada,” American news media only report on Canadian events that they believe are, or will be, influential to the US. Therefore, when Justin Trudeau’s announcement, having finally read the room, that Canada will be reducing the number of permanent residents admitted by more than 20 percent and temporary residents like skilled workers and college students will be cut by more than half made news south of the border, I knew the American media felt Trudeau’s about-face on immigration was newsworthy because many Americans would relate to Trudeau realizing Canada was accepting more immigrants than it could manage and are hoping their next POTUS will follow Trudeau’s playbook.
Canada, with lots of space and lacking convenient geographical ways for illegal immigrants to enter the country, though still many do, has a global reputation for being incredibly accepting of immigrants. On the surface, Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver appear to be multicultural havens. However, as the saying goes, “Too much of a good thing is never good,” resulting in a sharp rise in anti-immigrant sentiment, which you can almost taste in the air. A growing number of Canadians, regardless of their political affiliation, are blaming recent immigrants for causing the housing affordability crises, inflation, rise in crime and unemployment/stagnant wages.
Throughout history, populations have engulfed themselves in a tribal frenzy, a psychological state where people identify strongly with their own group, often leading to a ‘us versus them’ mentality. This has led to quick shifts from complacency to panic and finger-pointing at groups outside their tribe, a phenomenon that is not unique to any particular culture or time period.
My take on why the American news media found Trudeau’s blatantly obvious attempt to save his political career, balancing appeasement between the pitchfork crowd, who want a halt to immigration until Canada gets its house in order, and immigrant voters, who traditionally vote Liberal, newsworthy; the American news media, as do I, believe immigration fatigue is why Kamala Harris is going to lose on November 5th.
Because they frequently get the outcome wrong, I don’t take polls seriously. According to polls in 2014, Tim Hudak’s Progressive Conservatives and Kathleen Wynne’s Liberals were in a dead heat in Ontario, yet Wynne won with more than twice as many seats. In the 2018 Quebec election, most polls had the Coalition Avenir Québec with a 1-to-5-point lead over the governing Liberals. The result: The Coalition Avenir Québec enjoyed a landslide victory, winning 74 of 125 seats. Then there’s how the 2016 US election polls showing Donald Trump didn’t have a chance of winning against Hillary Clinton were ridiculously way off, highlighting the importance of the election day poll and, applicable in this election as it was in 2016, not to discount ‘shy Trump supporters;’ voters who support Trump but are hesitant to express their views publicly due to social or political pressure.
My distrust in polls aside, polls indicate Harris is leading by a few points. One would think that Trump’s many over-the-top shenanigans, which would be entertaining were he not the POTUS or again seeking the Oval Office, would have him far down in the polls. Trump is toe-to-toe with Harris in the polls because his approach to the economy—middle-class Americans are nostalgic for the relatively strong economic performance during Trump’s first three years in office—and immigration, which Americans are hyper-focused on right now, appeals to many Americans. In his quest to win votes, Trump is doing what anyone seeking political office needs to do: telling the people what they want to hear, strategically using populism—populism that serves your best interests is good populism—to evoke emotional responses. Harris isn’t doing herself any favours, nor moving voters, by going the “But, but… the orange man is bad!” route, while Trump cultivates support from “weird” marginal voting groups.
To Harris’s credit, things could have fallen apart when Biden abruptly stepped aside. Instead, Harris quickly clinched the nomination and had a strong first few weeks, erasing the deficit Biden had given her. The Democratic convention was a success, as was her acceptance speech. Her performance at the September 10th debate with Donald Trump was first-rate.
Harris’ Achilles heel is she’s now making promises she could have made and implemented while VP, making immigration and the economy Harris’ liabilities, especially since she’s been sitting next to Biden, watching the US turn into the circus it has become. These liabilities, basically her only liabilities, negate her stance on abortion, democracy, healthcare, a long-winning issue for Democrats, and Trump’s character. All Harris has offered voters is “feel-good vibes” over substance. In contrast, Trump offers the tangible political tornado (read: steamroll the problems Americans are facing) many Americans seek. With Trump, there’s no doubt that change, admittedly in a messy fashion, will happen. If enough Americans believe the changes he’ll implement will benefit them and their country…
The case against Harris on immigration, at a time when there’s a huge global backlash to immigration, even as the American news media are pointing out, in famously immigrant-friendly Canada, is relatively straightforward: During the first three years of the Biden-Harris administration, illegal Southern border crossings increased significantly.
The words illegal immigration, to put it mildly, irks most Americans. On the legal immigration front, according to Forbes, most billion-dollar startups were founded by immigrants. Google, Microsoft, and Oracle, to name three, have immigrants as CEOs. Immigrants, with tech skills and an entrepreneurial thirst, have kept America leading the world. I like to think that Americans and Canadians understand the best immigration policy is to strategically let enough of these immigrants in who’ll increase GDP and tax base and not rely on social programs. In other words, Americans and Canadians, and arguably citizens of European countries, expect their governments to be more strategic about immigration.
The days of the words on a bronze plaque mounted inside the Statue of Liberty pedestal’s lower level, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…” are no longer tolerated. Americans only want immigrants who’ll benefit America.
Does Trump demagogue the immigration issue with xenophobic and racist tropes, many of which are outright lies, such as claiming Haitian immigrants in Ohio are abducting and eating pets? Absolutely. However, such unhinged talk signals to Americans who are worried about the steady influx of illegal immigrants into their country that Trump can handle immigration so that it’s beneficial to the country as opposed to being an issue of economic stress.
In many ways, if polls are to be believed, Harris is paying the price for Biden and her lax policies early in their term. Yes, stimulus spending quickly rebuilt the job market, but at the cost of higher inflation. Loosen border policies at a time when anti-immigrant sentiment was increasing was a gross miscalculation, much like Trudeau’s immigration quota increase, and Biden indulging himself in running for re-election should never have happened.
If Trump wins, Democrats will proclaim that everyone is sexist, racist and misogynous, not to mention a likely White Supremacist, and for good measure, they’ll beat the “voter suppression” button. If Harris wins, Trump supporters will repeat voter fraud—since July, Elon Musk has tweeted on Twitter at least 22 times about voters being “imported” from abroad—being widespread.
Regardless of who wins tomorrow, Americans need to cool down; and give the divisive rhetoric a long overdue break. The right to an opinion belongs to everyone. Someone whose opinion differs from yours is not by default sexist, racist, a fascist or anything else; they simply disagree with you. Americans adopting the respectful mindset to agree to disagree would be the best thing they could do for the United States of America.
PHOENIX (AP) — Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a prominent proponent of debunked public health claims whom Donald Trump has promised to put in charge of health initiatives, said Saturday that Trump would push to remove fluoride from drinking water on his first day in office if elected president.
Fluoride strengthens teeth and reduces cavities by replacing minerals lost during normal wear and tear, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The addition of low levels of fluoride to drinking water has long been considered one of the greatest public health achievements of the last century.
Kennedy made the declaration Saturday on the social media platform X alongside a variety of claims about the heath effects of fluoride.
“On January 20, the Trump White House will advise all U.S. water systems to remove fluoride from public water,” Kennedy wrote. Trump and his wife, Melania Trump, “want to Make America Healthy Again,” he added, repeating a phrase Trump often uses and links to Kennedy.
Trump told NBC News on Sunday that he had not spoken to Kennedy about fluoride yet, “but it sounds OK to me. You know it’s possible.”
The former president declined to say whether he would seek a Cabinet role for Kennedy, a job that would require Senate confirmation, but added, “He’s going to have a big role in the administration.”
Asked whether banning certain vaccines would be on the table, Trump said he would talk to Kennedy and others about that. Trump described Kennedy as “a very talented guy and has strong views.”
The sudden and unexpected weekend social media post evoked the chaotic policymaking that defined Trump’s White House tenure, when he would issue policy declarations on Twitter at virtually all hours. It also underscored the concerns many experts have about Kennedy, who has long promoted debunked theories about vaccine safety, having influence over U.S. public health.
In 1950, federal officials endorsed water fluoridation to prevent tooth decay, and continued to promote it even after fluoride toothpaste brands hit the market several years later. Though fluoride can come from a number of sources, drinking water is the main source for Americans, researchers say.
Officials lowered their recommendation for drinking water fluoride levels in 2015 to address a tooth condition called fluorosis, that can cause splotches on teeth and was becoming more common in U.S. kids.
In August, a federal agency determined “with moderate confidence” that there is a link between higher levels of fluoride exposure and lower IQ in kids. The National Toxicology Program based its conclusion on studies involving fluoride levels at about twice the recommended limit for drinking water.
A federal judge later cited that study in ordering the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to further regulate fluoride in drinking water. U.S. District Judge Edward Chen cautioned that it’s not certain that the amount of fluoride typically added to water is causing lower IQ in kids, but he concluded that mounting research points to an unreasonable risk that it could be. He ordered the EPA to take steps to lower that risk, but didn’t say what those measures should be.
In his X post Saturday, Kennedy tagged Michael Connett, the lead attorney representing the plaintiff in that lawsuit, the environmental advocacy group Food & Water Watch.
Kennedy’s anti-vaccine organization has a lawsuit pending against news organizations including The Associated Press, accusing them of violating antitrust laws by taking action to identify misinformation, including about COVID-19 and COVID-19 vaccines. Kennedy is on leave from the group but is listed as one of its attorneys in the lawsuit.
What role Kennedy might hold if Trump wins on Tuesday remains unclear. Kennedy recently told NewsNation that Trump asked him to “reorganize” agencies including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration and some agencies under the Department of Agriculture.
But for now, the former independent presidential candidate has become one of Trump’s top surrogates. Trump frequently mentions having the support of Kennedy, a scion of a Democratic dynasty and the son of former Attorney General Robert Kennedy and nephew of President John F. Kennedy.
Kennedy traveled with Trump Friday and spoke at his rallies in Michigan and Wisconsin.
Trump said Saturday that he told Kennedy: “You can work on food, you can work on anything you want” except oil policy.
“He wants health, he wants women’s health, he wants men’s health, he wants kids, he wants everything,” Trump added.
![Omar Ayub Khan with Asad Umar, his PTI colleague after being attacked by police in May 2022. [Courtesy of Omar Ayub Khan]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/AU-and-OAK-courtesy-OAK-1709540008.jpg?resize=770%2C578)
![Omar Ayub Khan lost the contest for premiership to Shehbaz Sharif as he secured only 92 votes. [Courtesy of Omar Ayub Khan]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/OAK-courtesy-OAK-1709540206.jpg?resize=770%2C513)
