Chicago Social Media Influencer and Congressional Candidate Kat Abughazaleh Is a Social Contagion
Another progressive performative idiot launches a bid for the U.S. House of Representatives
Politics in America has reached a perilous stage, brought upon by social media, particularly YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok. Attractive and polished people, actors really, who have accomplished little in life, are being hailed as saviors and intellectual giants because they can throw around a few clichés on the internet and look good while doing it.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC), a bartender before her shocking upset over Joe Crowley, the reigning Democratic Caucus Chair, in a New York Democratic U.S. House primary election in 2018, began this cute shiny-object era. Now the social media star is seen as a leading contender for the Democratic nomination for president in 2028.
Accompanied by Bernie Sanders, AOC just concluded a series of political rallies called the Fighting Oligarchy Tour. What was missing from Ocasio-Cortez’ speeches on that tour was a review of her substantial legislative accomplishments from her five years as a member of the House of Representatives.
That’s because Ocasio-Cortez has none.
As the socialist pair carried out their tour, Chicago's answer to AOC emerged. And it is former Media Matters television show watcher — although it's likely she prefers to be called a media analyst — Katherine "Kat" Abughazaleh. A social media influencer, in March, on her 26th birthday, Abughazaleh announced that she would be a candidate to represent Illinois' 9th Congressional District. The incumbent, Democrat Jan Schakowsky, has held that seat for 26 years. When Abughazaleh entered the race, Schakowsky hadn't announced her intentions, but earlier this month she said she would retire at the end of her term.
The 9th, like so many Illinois legislative districts, is a gerrymandered monstrosity; it spans from Chicago's lakefront up into McHenry County. Abughazaleh was born in Texas, but last year relocated to Chicago's North Side from Washington, D.C. She currently lives just outside the 9th but has vowed to relocate inside its borders in the near future.
A woman with a sultry voice along the lines of an 1970s FM radio female disc jockey, Abughazaleh is the sort who would purr: "Now that you are tucked in to bed for the evening, let's hear a track from Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon to send you off to dreamland.”
In her videos and her television appearances, Abughazaleh — always the performer — sits herself behind an oversized 1930s-style microphone.
One of Abughazaleh's street-theater-without-the-street performances has gotten her in trouble since she announced her run. Four years ago, she posted a picture of herself on her Instagram page where she was dressed in a black lingerie outfit with fishnet stockings. I believe she was paying homage to a Pokémon character. Abughazaleh's legs were provocatively spread and her tongue hanging out.
Abughazaleh's move from D.C. to Chicago took place after she was laid off by Media Matters. Elon Musk sued the media pest after it claimed that Musk's X platform purposely placed advertisements next to neo-Nazi posts.
Abughazaleh's specialty at Media Matters was to cover Tucker Carlson's Fox News show. "I watch Tucker Carlson, so you don’t have to," used to be the tagline on her social media home pages. But what a horrible existence it must have been, even if she was well-paid. Abughazaleh's job was akin to a Green Bay Packers fan watching every minute of every Chicago Bears game, hoping for a fumble every time the Bears are on offense.
Since leaving Media Matters, Abughazaleh has written articles for far-Left Mother Jones, produced videos, and appeared on podcasts, often dropping "F" bombs with that sultry voice to appear "cool," or actually "lit," the word her generation prefers to express hipness.
And with that intellectually vapid and accomplishments-free résumé, Abughazaleh is looking to perform her next gig as a member of the House of Representatives. And with the proven stupidity of Illinois voters, her prospects for victory are promising.
Few people took AOC seriously in 2018.
But everyone must start somewhere, right? Abraham Lincoln's first job was toiling as a general store clerk. Ronald Reagan was a lifeguard. Harry S. Truman worked as a haberdasher. But before becoming national figures, they moved up the ladder with other, more important jobs.
But those men — all of whom were blessed with engaging personalities — didn't live in the era of the social media influencer.
Conservatives view Abughazaleh as an actor and because of people like her — and AOC — it's understandable why Plato, in The Republic, proposed banning actors from his ideal society because of their charming, yet ultimately devious influence on others.
Of course, had Plato known Reagan, I'm sure he would have made an exception for him.
As for Abughazaleh’s political positions, they are available on her website. All are standard left-wing fare, stuff that was fed to her while she was a student at George Washington University. While Abughazaleh isn’t as openly pro-Palestinian as many others on the left — she clearly sympathizes with them over Israel. She’ll have to tip-toe around the Gaza issue, because there are many Jewish voters living in the 9th district.
And as with Angela Clay, Chicago's 46th Ward alderman, who Chicago Contrarian profiled last year, Abughazaleh has her left-wing "hero's journey." With Kat, it's her being born into a Republican family in Dallas and having a Palestinian American father.
But then came the challenge part of that journey, having her comfortable world snatched away, as she explained to Ben Joravsky on his podcast.
“Halfway through high school, we moved to Arizona, and Dallas is very segregated by income and race — and like, all of these factors. I had never really been exposed to poverty on a wide scale, at least like, in the United States.”
Those comments tell a compelling story — and that's what it is. A story. Abughazaleh moved with her family from Dallas to Tucson. Look it up if you must, but the poverty levels of Tucson and Dallas, according to the US Census Bureau, are nearly identical.
Abughazaleh doesn't want facts to get in the way of her origin tale. As for her long-term career plan, should voters be wise enough to reject her at the ballot box, perhaps a job on MSNBC or CNN figures into it. Too many politicians — both Republicans and Democrats — view elected office as a lucrative steppingstone to an even better paying podcast or cable news gig. Which is why America is headed towards a kakistocracy, that is, a government run by the least qualified, both morally and intellectually. Chicago, with Brandon Johnson as mayor and a City Council that sees one of its members sentenced to prison every 18 months or so, is already suffering at that level.
Having social media personality Kat Abughazaleh — big microphone and all — representing Illinois’ 9th congressional district will add one more log to America’s funeral pyre.
