U.S. President Barack Obama's half brother Malik Obama, who is a Muslim Kenyan with U.S. citizenship, surprisingly favours Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and plans to vote for him in the upcoming election.

Malik tells BBC News that Trump "comes across as a straightforward guy," and it is something he appreciates. "He appeals to me and also I think that he is down to earth and he speaks from the heart and he is not trying to be politically correct. He's just straight-forward," he says.

Even though he is a Muslim, Malik is not offended by Trump's proposed Muslim ban, and even called the move an act of "common sense" since America is currently facing several terror attacks and security issues.

"I'm a Muslim, of course, but you can't have people going around just shooting people and killing people just in the name of Islam," Malik says, according to Reuters.

Barack Obama, on the other hand, is supporting Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton for the White House.

Despite his preference for Trump, Malik still feels it was "sort of disappointing, somewhat hypocritical" that no representatives of the Obama family from Kenya were invited to attend the Democratic convention in Philadelphia this week.

At the same time, Malik is not impressed by the president's term in office, saying that the White House has not done anything significant for the American people.

The president and Malik might share the same father, but Malik sees nothing wrong in publicly criticising his half brother. "To each his own. I speak my mind and I'm not going to be put in a box just because my brother is the President of the United States," he says.

The two were previously close but have drifted apart over the years.