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Kat Abughazaleh

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Kat Abughazaleh
Born
Katherine Abughazaleh

(1999-03-24) March 24, 1999 (age 26)
United States
EducationGeorge Washington University
Occupations
  • Internet personality
  • journalist[1]
EmployerMedia Matters for America
Political partyDemocratic

Katherine Abughazaleh (/ˌɑː.buː.ɡəˈzɑː.leɪ/, Levantine Arabic pronunciation: [ˌʔa.buː ʁaˈzaːle]; born 1999), also known as Kat Abu,[2] is an American social media influencer,[3] researcher,[4] video content creator,[5] and commentator on politics and social media who worked at Media Matters for America, and has been published by Mother Jones and The New Republic. In March 2025, she announced that she would be running for the United States House of Representatives.[6]

Early life and education

[edit]

Abughazaleh was born on March 24, 1999,[7] in the United States to a Palestinian immigrant father and a seventh-generation native of Dallas on her mother's side;[6][8][9] the family held conservative and pro-Republican views, and Abughazaleh was a Republican through her teens; as a teenager, she considered joining the military, hoping to attend the Air Force Academy or West Point.[10] She credits a move to Tucson, Arizona for sparking her change in political views; having attended private schools until her second year of high school, she changed to a school with many undocumented and low-income students, and "The bootstrap myth just shattered before my eyes."[9]

During Donald Trump's first presidential term, she attended George Washington University in Washington, D.C., aiming to work in journalism or the Foreign Service.[11] At GWU, she wrote and made videos for the student newspaper,[12][13] performed stand-up comedy,[11] and studied international security and journalism, graduating in 2020.[9] She remained registered as a Dallas voter to have "a lot more voting power" than she would as a D.C. resident.[14] By graduation, she was seeking jobs in progressive politics.[8]

In the early 2020s, Abughazaleh worked as a bartender in Washington, D.C. In August 2022, she drank a spiked drink, causing her to black out and then to consult a doctor. Her tweets about the experience were shared and liked hundreds of thousands of times, and spurred news coverage on symptoms that indicate a person has been nonconsensually drugged.[15][16][17]

Career

[edit]

By 2023, Abughazaleh had become a senior video producer for Media Matters for America; her job required her to cover the content of Fox News, including Tucker Carlson's show on that network at the time; this was reflected in the self-description of her Twitter profile, "I watch Tucker Carlson so you don’t have to." In January 2023, she started a TikTok profile, where she covered Carlson and his show. In about four months, she had gained 130,000 followers, and several of her videos have reached 1 million views. By April 2023, some of her posts on Twitter, where she had more than 182,000 followers, had become viral, and she faced online harassment by conservative commentators and right-wing users.[9] In one instance she collated screenshots of the harassing messages, creating a "visual aid" to illustrate what she and other prominent women media makers experience frequently.[4]

In May 2024, The New Republic named Abughazaleh a political influencer to watch.[18] That same month, Abughazaleh and 11 colleagues were laid off from Media Matters following Elon Musk suing Media Matters.[19][20] In July 2024, she moved to Chicago, Illinois.[3] By July 2024, her social media followers had reached a total of nearly half a million across TikTok, Twitter, and Instagram.[5] On July 24, 2024, the progressive magazine Mother Jones announced that they hired Abughazaleh as a "Video Creator" to produce content on democracy, far-right media coverage, disinformation, and radicalization;[5][21] she also joined the media outlet Zeteo to produce videos countering "right-wing narratives".[22]

The Democratic National Convention invited Abughazaleh as one of several content creators to cover the August 2024 convention,[23] where she participated in an Uncommitted sit-in[24] and interviewed Ro Khanna about the Democrats' Middle East policy.[25] Abughazaleh said on Zeteo that she "honestly was shocked" and "appalled" at how little Kamala Harris's acceptance speech addressed Gaza and Palestinian concerns.[26]

Politico highlighted her prominence on TikTok in September 2024, predicting her account would be among those playing "an outsized role in the last 50 days of the presidential race".[27] In October 2024, she worked with progressive advocacy group People For the American Way to create a new video series on white Christian nationalism.[28]

In the 2024 general election, Abughazaleh voted in Washington, DC rather than Illinois.[29] Analyzing the election results, she wrote for The New Republic that "[i]deally, a new party (or several!) would emerge" from the Democratic Party's failure, but "in the interim.... new blood, motivated by radical change rather than stagnant power, needs to storm [the] ineffective gerontocracy" of the party.[30]

2026 U.S. House campaign

[edit]

On 24 March 2025, she announced that in the next federal election in 2026, she would be running as a candidate in the Democratic primary election[31] for Illinois's 9th congressional district seat, which has been held by Jan Schakowsky, a Democrat and a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, since 1999.[32] News outlets and Abughazaleh herself connected her campaign with the "widespread frustration" with the Democratic Party among its progressive members, particularly after Donald Trump's rise.[33] Politico cited Bernie Sanders who encouraged progressives to run as independent candidates in the light of declining popularity of the party, and The Washington Post noted the possibility of her campaign being part of an anti-incumbent movement akin to the Tea Party.[34] News coverage of Abughazaleh's use of digital media, including Bluesky (rather than Musk's X), predicted her skills would help her appeal to younger voters.[35][36][37]

In the announcement of her campaign, Abughazaleh explained that she "[did not] think that the Democratic Party right now [was] doing enough". She announced that the campaign would reject corporate donations and "the influence of the ultra-wealthy," and instead rely on grassroots donors and free public events, and work with mutual aid groups and local businesses.[3][6][38] At the time of her announcement, she did not live in Illinois's 9th congressional district, having only registered to vote in Illinois's 7th congressional district a month before her announcement.[39][40] She has stated that she and her partner live "one bus stop" from the 9th district, which she claims is gerrymandered, and that they plan to move into it as soon as they can break their lease on their existing home.[41]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Gault, Matthew (March 24, 2025). "A Populist Influencer Is Running for Congress, and She Actually Understands YouTube". Retrieved March 25, 2025.
  2. ^ "Media Matters Staffers Announce Sweeping Lay Offs: 'There's a Reason Far-Right Billionaires Attack'". Mediaite. May 23, 2024. Retrieved March 24, 2025.
  3. ^ a b c Kapos, Sheila (March 24, 2025). "Illinois progressive Congress member attracts Gen-Z challenger". Politico. Retrieved March 24, 2025.
  4. ^ a b Balevic, Katie (January 24, 2023). "A progressive researcher said a conservative pundit twice her age tweeted out her Tinder profile. The replies were 'gross' but she turned it into a 'visual aid' on online harassment". Business Insider. Retrieved March 24, 2025.
  5. ^ a b c "Mother Jones Hires TikTok Star Kat Abughazaleh as Video Creator". Mother Jones. July 24, 2024. Retrieved March 24, 2025.
  6. ^ a b c "Who is Kat Abughazaleh, Gen Z TikTok influencer launching challenge to longtime Democrat Jan Schakowsky?". The Economic Times. Retrieved March 24, 2025.
  7. ^ Abughazaleh, Kat [@abughazalehkat] (March 30, 2025). "I turned 26 on Monday — very eventful campaign launch day lol" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  8. ^ a b Clare Malone (February 25, 2023). "Watching Tucker Carlson for Work". The New Yorker. Retrieved March 24, 2025.
  9. ^ a b c d Hall, Ellie (April 28, 2023). "Meet Kat Abu, The TikToker Mocking Fox News "Just For Funsies"". Buzzfeed News. Retrieved March 24, 2025.
  10. ^ Schmidt, Caitlin (2015-05-30). "Camp lets girls experience careers in law enforcement". Arizona Daily Star. Retrieved 2025-04-02.
  11. ^ a b Juliet Jeske - Decoding Fox News (2024-08-21). A Conversation with Kat Abughazaleh and Juliet Jeske of Decoding Fox News. Retrieved 2025-04-02 – via YouTube.
  12. ^ Konneker, Liz; Abughazaleh, Katherine (October 23, 2017). "Lack of funding leaves religion department without faculty in key subject areas". The GW Hatchet.
  13. ^ Abughazaleh, Katherine. "Tattoo shop raises money for Planned Parenthood on International Women's Day". The GW Hatchet. Retrieved 2025-04-02.
  14. ^ Sprunt, Barbara; Parks, Miles (June 27, 2020). "Some Longtime D.C. Residents Still Vote In Other States. Is That ... Legal?". NPR. Retrieved 2025-04-02. 'If I were a D.C. voter, I wouldn't have someone to call and say "vote this way." Right now, I can call my congressman...'
  15. ^ Santora, Sara (2022-08-17). "Woman Shares Symptoms of Her Drink Being Spiked: 'I Wish I Knew Beforehand'". Newsweek. Retrieved 2025-04-02. The thread has amassed a total of over 373,000 likes and more than 2,000 comments thanking Abughazaleh for sharing her knowledge and speaking out about her experience.
  16. ^ Llorico, Abby (2022-09-21). "DC woman shares story of suspected spiked drink". wusa9.com. Washington, D.C.: WUSA 9. Retrieved 2025-04-02. ...she reached nearly 200,000.....'I've been doing a part-time shift as a bartender over at a bar in DuPont that I've been working at for a few years,' Abughazaleh said.
  17. ^ Parker, Lara (2022-10-17). ""Here Are The Symptoms I Wish I'd Known Beforehand": This 23-Year-Old Had Her Drink Drugged, And She Is Sharing Her Story To Help Others". BuzzFeed. Retrieved 2025-04-02. Recently Kat, after realizing that her drink had been spiked, shared her story on Twitter in a viral thread that has since been read and shared hundreds of thousands of times.
  18. ^ "25 Political Influencers To Watch As the Election Nears". The New Republic. Vol. 255, no. 5. May 2024. pp. 20–29. Media Matters for America, a progressive research and information center devoted to correcting conservative misinformation in media, has been plying its trade since the dawn of digital journalism, but there's never been anyone on staff quite like Kat Abughazaleh, who 'watches Fox News for a living,' as she puts it, and was seemingly born to conquer the video realm.... Whether Abughazaleh is laying waste to right-wing talking points, explaining the latest culture-war obsession in conservative circles, or tormenting Tucker Carlson, her work brims with wit that's more Edgar Wright than Beltway wonk.
  19. ^ Stuart, Tessa (2025-03-24). "'We Are in an Emergency': Progressive TikTok Star Launches Bid to Unseat Old-Guard Dem". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2025-03-25.
  20. ^ Baragona, Justin (2024-05-23). "Media Matters Lays Off Dozen Staffers Amid Elon Musk Lawsuit". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2025-04-01.
  21. ^ "#NEWSPEOPLE". Editor & Publisher. Vol. 157, no. 9. September 2024. pp. 40–47. As part of an initiative to confront disinformation that runs rampant on digital platforms, 'Mother Jones' recently hired popular social media commentator Kat Abughazaleh as video creator, a role that highlights her signature videos about democracy, far-right media coverage, disinformation and radicalization.
  22. ^ Merid, Feven (August 14, 2024). "The Media Today: Q&A: Kat Abughazaleh on 'vibe checking' 2024". Columbia Journalism Review. Retrieved 2025-04-02.
  23. ^ Behrmann, Savannah; Mcgowan, Mary Frances; Anastèício, Nicholas (2024-08-22). "Rolling out the 'blue carpet' for social media content creators at the DNC". Nationaljournal.com. Kat Abughazaleh, known as 'Kat Abu' on TikTok, has gone viral for watching 'Fox News so you don't have to' and fact checking conservative personalities such as Tucker Carlson.
  24. ^ Kat Abughazaleh (2024-08-22). Hour 17 Of The DNC Sit-In: Let Palestinians Speak. Retrieved 2025-04-02 – via YouTube.
  25. ^ Kat Abughazaleh (2024-08-27). Talking With Ro Khanna About Uncommitted Voters And Kamala Harris. Retrieved 2025-04-02 – via YouTube.
  26. ^ Hasan, Mehdi; Thakker, Prem; Abughazaleh, Kat (2024-08-23). The Post-Kamala Speech Town Hall Q&A. zeteo.com. Chicago, Illinois: Zeteo. Event occurs at 5:16. Retrieved 2025-04-02. Hasan: '... did she address Gaza sufficiently?' Abughazaleh: ' [laughs dismissively]... I honestly was shocked. I was... no, I was absolutely appalled.'
  27. ^ Mathur, Anusha (2024-09-16). "TikTok steals the spotlight". POLITICO. Retrieved 2025-04-02.
  28. ^ "People For the American Way Foundation and Influencer Kat Abughazaleh Launch New Video Series on the Threat of White Christian Nationalism". People For the American Way. 2024-10-17. Retrieved 2025-04-01.
  29. ^ Kapos, Shia (March 25, 2025). "Gen-Z challenges Schakowsky". Politico Illinois Playbook. Retrieved March 26, 2025.
  30. ^ Abughazaleh, Kat (November 8, 2024). "Democrats Need to Clean House Before They Screw Up Again: It wasn't just the people running Kamala Harris's campaign who failed. The leadership of the entire party is at fault". The New Republic. ISSN 0028-6583. Retrieved 2025-04-02.
  31. ^ Solender, Andrew (March 25, 2025). "26-year-old influencer launches House Dem primary challenge". Axios. Retrieved March 24, 2025.
  32. ^ Cooper, Jonathan J. (2025-04-02). "Democratic base's anger puts some party leaders on shaky ground". The Associated Press. Retrieved 2025-04-02.
  33. ^ Korach, Natalie (2025-03-25). "'We Can't Fall for This Stuff': Why a MAGA-Media Antagonist Is Running for Congress". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 2025-04-02. ...is kicking off a congressional campaign amid growing grassroots frustration with party leaders over their failure to aggressively combat Donald Trump's agenda. She argues that any capitulation to Trump won't result in 'an easier sentence or less aggression by the Trump administration,' adding, 'That's not how these people work.'
  34. ^ O'Neill, Shane (2025-03-31). "Kat Abughazaleh, from YouTube to Congress?". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2025-04-01. Retrieved 2025-04-02. In short, she's running when more and more people are questioning doctrinaire Democratic politics and asking whether this is her party's version of 2010, when a new crop of 'tea party' candidates unseated incumbent Republicans and pushed the party further to the right.... She was laid off in 2024 after Elon Musk sued Media Matters over a report it released documenting antisemitism on X.
  35. ^ Snelling, Grace (2025-03-26). "How this TikToker running for Congress is designing her campaign for Gen Z". Fast Company. Archived from the original on 2025-03-26. Retrieved 2025-04-02.
  36. ^ Karanth, Sanjana (2025-03-24). "Political Commentator Runs For Congress To Change Democrats' Status Quo". HuffPost. Retrieved 2025-04-02. ...Abughazaleh said in a video first posted on Bluesky — a move she said was intentional so that her campaign doesn't heavily rely on Elon Musk's X or Mark Zuckerberg's Meta.
  37. ^ Silberling, Amanda (2025-03-25). "Once a target of Musk's ire, Gen Z creator Kat Abughazaleh is running for Congress". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2025-04-02. Given her history with Musk, she isn't planning to center X in her digital strategy. Above all other social media platforms, Abughazaleh is prioritizing Bluesky, where she has around 154,000 followers. On Monday, for example, she posted her campaign announcement exclusively on Bluesky for an hour and a half before moving to other platforms.
  38. ^ Dent, Lisa; McCarthy, Colin (March 27, 2025). Meet the 26-year-old running for Illinois’ 9th district. WGN Radio 720. Event occurs at 8:19. 'No, we're just funded by grassroots donors, and I intend to keep it that way. You know, I don't want to take any corporate cash. I have no interest in taking money from people whose views directly contradict my own that I'd have to change to, you know, get this money.'
  39. ^ Miller, Isabel (March 25, 2025). "Online 'influencer' challenging Rep. Jan Schakowsky". Capitol Fax. Retrieved March 26, 2025. Rich has heard that she currently lives in the upscale Streeterville neighborhood.
  40. ^ Harrington, Adam (November 7, 2024). "17 incumbent Illinois U.S. representatives vied for reelection. Here's who's won". CBS Chicago. The 7th Congressional District includes the Loop, River North, Streeterville, and the West Loop, and...
  41. ^ Cherone, Heather (2025-03-31). "Progressive Media Star Kat Abughazaleh Brings Fight to Remake Democratic Party to Chicago With Congressional Bid". WTTW News. Chicago, Illinois. Retrieved 2025-04-02.
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