They Thought Trump Would Help Free Imran Khan – But They Were Terribly Wrong
The former Pakistani leader remains behind bars, prompting those Pakistani-American groups that backed Trump and Republicans in 2024 to now worry they got 'played' by the president and his team.
On Election Day 2024, a TikTok video went massively viral. In it, Donald Trump pledges that, if he wins the election, he’ll work hard to free Imran Khan from prison.
“Hello, my Pakistani American friends. I promise that if I win, I will try my best to get Imran Khan out of jail as soon as possible. He is my friend, I love him. I will support him to take over the government again, and rock, and we will work together to make our ties stronger. Imran Khan Zindabad.”
The video garnered millions of views. And it was… fake. Another example of misinformation run wild, the online video – and its artificiality – has since then served as an apt metaphor for reality.
When Trump returned to the White House in January 2025, some Pakistani-Americans and supporters of Imran Khan believed the president would stand up for the imprisoned Pakistani prime minister. Instead, more than a year in, the Trump-Vance administration has given the community the cold shoulder. All the while, Khan’s health continues to deteriorate in prison.
Abandoned by Biden-Harris
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Zeteo to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.