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Ahmed Mohamed: Bristol Palin criticises Obama for White House invitation

According to the 24-year-old, the President should "stay out" of it to avoid encouraging "more racial strife"

Olivia Blair
Friday 18 September 2015 11:33 BST
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Bristol Palin has criticised President Barack Obama for inviting Ahmed Mohamed to the White House.

The daughter of the US Republican politician Sarah Palin argued Mr Obama would only incite more "racial strife" by addressing the 14-year-old's case in a post on her blog.

Ahmed was arrested by police in Texas after a homemade digital clock he made to impress his teacher was mistaken for a bomb by another teacher.

After details of the incident came to light, the hashtag #IStandWithAhmed went viral, even attracting a tweet from Mr Obama himself.

She went on to state that although the police force “made a mistake, clearly” the President should not encourage to “put more people against them.”

“Why egg it on?”, she wrote. “Childish games like this from our President have divided our country… even more today than when he was elected.”

Ahmed, whose charges against him have since been dropped, was reportedly interrogated by five police officers.

Following his arrest, his Father Elhassan Mohamed told the Dallas Morning News: “He just wants to invent good things for mankind. But because his name is Mohamed and because of September 11, I think my son got mistreated.”

Ahmed, who is currently suspended from school, has reportedly now been contacted by the likes of renowned college, MIT and companies including Facebook, Twitter, Google and Nasa for internship opportunities.

Ms Palin, a former contestant on America’s equivalent of Strictly Come Dancing also devotes her time to being a spokesperson for the prevention of teenage pregnancy - in 2010, following the birth of her first child Tripp in 2008, she announced she had taken a celibacy vow until marriage.

However, in June of this year, she revealed she was pregnant with her second child, saying: “I know this has been, and will be, a huge disappointment to my family, to my close friends, and to many of you. I do not want any lectures and I do not want any sympathy. My little family always has, and always will come first.”

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