Abdul-Rahman Magba-Kamara, known commonly as AK Kamara, has become a well-known conservative pundit online. His 20-year history in grassroots Republican politics laid the foundation for his ascension to becoming a Minnesota Republican national committeeman.
He was raised in North Dakota by a mother of Irish heritage and a father from Sierra Leone. His father struggled with addiction throughout Kamara’s adolescence. Once his parents divorced, Kamara’s mother worked hard to raise her four children, leaning on subsidized housing and other resources.
“I think that part is important to understand, that I didn’t grow up in this perfect family, you know, with access to money or resources, wealth, any of that,” he said.
At the age of 18, Kamara headed to the Twin Cities to find an opportunity. He found a job as a product salesman and went door to door to pitch businesses. Two years later, he got married, which caused him to buckle down and plan his life. Kamara returned to school online and received his diploma. From there, he took courses at a community college and transferred to the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, where he studied political science.
Kamara hadn’t voted in an election before the 2004 presidential elections. Still, after a discussion with a fellow student who had loaned him a book, he was convinced that the Republican platform was for him.
“He said, ‘I want you to read this book. It breaks down why Democrats support Black people and why Black people should support Democrats.’ He gave me the book, and I read it. I got a completely different perspective,” Kamara said.
“My perspective is the founding of the Republican Party as a merger between the Whig Party and the Free Soil Party. That’s the Republican Party. [It] was founded as one of the tenets of the abolition of slavery.”
Now, 20 years later, as the leader of Minnesota’s Republican Party ahead of the presidential election between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, Kamara hopes to turn Minnesota red. He views Trump as a return to a thriving America where the broader public benefits from his America-first policies.
Kamara sees the Harris Walz ticket as the establishment option, whereas to him, Trump and Vance represent a populist approach.
“I’ve seen this trajectory where we’re becoming hyper-polarized,” Kamara said. “Where the right basically sticks with only the right, the left sticks with only the left, and that’s basically where our nation has been heading.”
Kamara stated that Governor Tim Walz has governed as one of the most progressive governors in terms of legislation signed by governors in the United States. He believes the national spotlight will expose his past policies that may turn moderate voters away. He also stated that Harris needed to gain the experience or ability to represent and lead the country as effectively as the former president.
“One of the biggest things is just the viewpoint that whenever a president goes and tries to negotiate, whether it’s with Congress or other countries, we should always be focused on what will help most Americans,” he said. “Trump has been able to truly grow our economy, to help middle-class Americans, and then when it comes to foreign intervention, not intervening unless it’s 100% in America’s best interest.”
Kamara’s online political commentary has grown in the last few years. He’s gained over 100,000 followers on TikTok with nearly two million likes. His videos range from commentary on current events to political diatribes mixed in with some jokes. Kamara takes a laid-back approach to his punditry, often seen donning a hat with the American flag as he gives a take on the latest political headline.
When it comes to the issue Black and brown Americans have with Trump’s past racial statements, Kamara believes that it is a narrative created by the media to purposefully create a perception of the former president.
“When people actually dig past what that narrative is, and they actually look at things that he did as president—the First Step Act, historical funding of HBCUs, and bringing together these coalitions for Latinos for Trump and Blacks for Trump—it’s clear that that’s not the case,” Kamara said.
Though Kamara stated that the media has twisted Trump’s rhetoric, many Republican politicians around the country have enacted policies to roll back any advancements in diversity, equity, and inclusion. Last year, the Supreme Court struck down the legality of affirmative action in college admissions, a decision that reversed decades of work to further opportunities for students of color to receive an education.
Critical Race Theory has become a buzzword for Republicans in recent years around the idea of students learning about America’s history with racist policies and their impact on the present day. Instead of correcting America’s wrongs, Kamara believes that people would be best served by the government getting out of their way.
“DEI doesn’t actually help anyone. DEI makes people feel good, but it actually doesn’t help anyone, because I don’t care what color skin you have if you don’t have a merit,” he said.
Despite the recent rhetoric from Republicans towards immigrants and other diverse communities, Kamara shared that the Republican Party has a wide tent to include every American.
“Regardless of your skin color, ethnicity, or even your religious background, if you are an American citizen who wants to be able to support having a strong America, there’s a place for you in the Republican party,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if you might disagree on this issue or this issue, but if you’re strong about your ethnicity or your culture, bring that to the Party. It’s open for it, but it’s not going to be pandering.”