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20-07-2025
KUALA LUMPUR: Dozens of demonstrators have gathered outside the United States embassy in Malaysia’s capital, Kuala Lumpur, to protest against the proposed appointment of pro-Israel conservative author and political commentator Nick Adams as the US envoy.
Adams, a self-styled “alpha male” known for harshly criticizing Islam, was named by US President Donald Trump last week as the White House’s nominee for the role.
Protesters called on Malaysia’s government to exercise its right under international norms to reject Adams’s proposed appointment.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim told reporters on Friday it was too early in the process to decide on Adams’s appointment, but that his government would give the matter due consideration.
“At the same time, we will seek to protect the good relations between Malaysia and the United States,” Anwar said, according to media.
A naturalized US citizen originally from Australia, Adams has cultivated a brash social media persona using a macho branding to weigh in on cultural issues and appeal to an audience of mainly young men.
His posts showing support for Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza have angered Muslims in Malaysia, fueling a rare backlash against a foreign diplomatic appointment in the Southeast Asian country.
A memorandum of protest submitted by demonstrators to the US embassy in Kuala Lumpur asked Trump to reconsider his nomination. It cited “divisive rhetoric” used by Adams and characterized his postings as insensitive towards Malaysia’s multicultural society, which has a majority of mostly Muslim ethnic Malays and has long been a staunch supporter of the Palestinian cause.
“An ambassador’s task is to be the bridge between two countries, and we don’t want that person to be someone who destroys that bridge instead,” Muhammad Izuan Ahmad Kasim, a member of Anwar’s People’s Justice Party, told media.
The nomination comes at a critical time for Malaysia, which has until August 1 to reach a trade deal with Washington to avoid a steep 25 percent tariff imposed on its exports to the US. Trump suggested tariffs could be avoided if Malaysia shifts manufacturing to the US.
Former Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin, who has described Adams as a “Zionist turd,” added that Malaysia had every right to reject his appointment, citing Article 4 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which stipulates that a receiving state may refuse any diplomatic envoy without having to provide any justification.
Mohamed Sukri Omar, a youth leader of the Islamic opposition party PAS, said in a statement that the appointment would be “an open insult towards the sensitivities of the Malaysian people.”
Even members of Anwar’s Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition have joined the chorus of concern. Kasthuri Patto of the liberal Democratic Action Party wrote in an opinion article that Malaysia “deserves better than Adams as an ambassador of the U.S.,” while a youth leader from Amanah said that Adams’s rhetoric on social media “is full of hatred, racism and Islamophobic sentiments, clearly deviating from the spirit of mature bilateral relations.”
It is only natural for Malaysians to see the appointment of such an undiplomatic figure either as a purposeful insult or reflecting an equally insulting disregard for Malaysian sensitivities and its status as a nation with which the U.S. has generally enjoyed good relations. In comments to The Guardian, Bridget Welsh said that the appointment displayed “no real recognition and deep appreciation about how critical a role Malaysia plays in the US economy, and the critical importance of these ties for issues of security.” (Int’l News Desk)
