Kat Abughazaleh, a 26-year-old Palestinian American influencer, announced she is running for US Congress. [screen grab]
Katherine “Kat” Abughazaleh, a 26-year-old journalist and social media influencer, has announced that she will be running for US Congress to represent Illinois’ ninth district.
Abughazaleh, whose father is Palestinian, said in her video that she is running because Democrats need to “grow a f**king spine.”
“Donald Trump and Elon Musk are dismantling our country piece by piece. And so many Democrats seem content to just sit back and let them. So I say it’s time to drop the excuses and grow a f**king spine,” said Abughazaleh, while sitting at her desk with a keffiyeh hanging behind her.
She goes on to describe the Democratic Party as lacking in real leadership and not possessing modern-day political know-how.
By entering the race, Abughazaleh will be running in the primary against longtime Democratic Representative Jan Schakowsky, 80, who has been in office since 1999.Â
Schakowsky has a progressive voting record, having been an outspoken critic of the Iraq war in 2003, she supports a public option for healthcare, and she raised concerns during Joe Biden’s presidency of US arms shipments to Israel.
Nevertheless, she hasn’t been the most outspoken critic of Trump, and at 80, there is a possibility that she will retire at the end of her term. She hasn’t yet revealed her plans.
“We need a makeover, which means we need a vision that’s bigger than what we’ve been told is possible,” the aspiring congresswoman said.Â
She went on to list basics that she believes everyone should afford—healthcare, housing, groceries and childcare.Â
Comparing herself with Democrats who aren’t loudly speaking out against Trump and Musk, she noted that she has been singled out for her “mean tweets” against Musk.
Abughazaleh has made a name for herself for her research and video commentary on racism, media bias and right-wing Christian nationalism.Â
