Kat Abughazaleh, who made a name for herself monitoring The Tucker Carlson Show on Fox News “so you don’t have to” is running for Congress from the north side of Chicago.

If she wins, the 26-year-old would be the youngest woman in history to take a seat in the House.

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The Palestinian American and bisexual journalist has family ties in the district and recently moved there from Washington with her boyfriend, Ben Collins, the CEO of The Onion.

Abughazaleh made headlines in September when she was arrested protesting at an ICE detention facility in Illinois. She and five others face felony charges for their alleged involvement in a confrontation that went viral on social.

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“This political prosecution is an attack on all of our First Amendment rights,” Abughazaleh said in a video responding to the indictment. “I’m not backing down, and we’re going to win.” 

The candidate declined to talk about the ongoing case with LGBTQ Nation (she walked off rightwing podcaster Tara Palmieri’s show after she wouldn’t stop questioning Abughazaleh about the incident), but she’s still on the streets; she’d just returned home from an ICE watch prior to our interview.

LGBTQ Nation: At last count, you’re competing against 16 candidates in the Democratic primary for Illinois’ 9th District. What is it about your candidacy that’s going to take you to the general?

Kat Abughazaleh: Until very recently, our leaders weren’t having to deal with people like Stephen Miller, Elon Musk, and Tom Homan on a daily basis. I know who these people are, and I know how to beat them, because I’ve been winning against them in my career to this day.

Additionally, I am the only true grassroots leading candidate in this race. I don’t take any money from billionaires, from corporate PACs, or from Democratic-funded PACs.

We are using our resources in a different way as well, to not just reach voters, but materially improve their lives. Our campaign office in Rogers Park doubles as a mutual aid hub. We make sure our events are accessible to everyone, no matter their income, and we try to make sure to help as many community organizations where we can and uplift the community.

In a video on your campaign site, you say of Democrats, “Unfortunately, this party has become one where you have to look at the exceptions to find real leadership as the majority work from an outdated playbook.” Who are some of the exceptions you identify with?

I’d say some of the exceptions include Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib — leaders of the Squad, as many call them. Additionally, Zohran Mamdani, I think, is the most notable exception that we’ve seen lately, and Democrats should be taking more from his and other progressive populist playbooks, including Bernie Sanders. He and AOC have been packing stadiums in red states rather than moving farther to the right.

I recently interviewed a group of student activists, and I asked what they think is the single worst thing Trump has done in his anti-LGBTQ+ crusade. What’s your answer?

That’s a horrible question! Look, the attacks on gender-affirming care are horrendous right now, and the insistence of this administration to erase trans people is on par with or is exactly from the same playbook as so many authoritarian leaders.

What do you think is behind Trump’s demonization of the trans community? Is it just personal antipathy? Is it something generational, or something straight out of that fascist playbook?

Oh, this is the fascist playbook. This is what I covered as a reporter, and what my colleagues and I warned Democrats about. I watched as they tried to fish around with critical race theory and DEI to get Americans upset about the woke left, and it didn’t work. And so they shifted to trans people, and used them as a cudgel to push their far-right agenda. This is what the right does all the time, where they try to present extreme positions as the norm.

This is part of a concentrated playbook from rightwing architects like Russell Vought and other members of the Heritage Foundation, authors of Project 2025, and that entire group. It’s horrendous, and it should also be expected. Every fascist regime of the last 100 years has focused on visible minorities and queer people, often as scapegoats for antisemitism, for antisemitic attacks, and we’re just the next part of this line.

You’ve forsworn “fancy fundraisers for rich donors” in your run for Congress. If George Soros, who helped fund your former outlet, Media Matters, came to you tomorrow and offered to foot the bill for a ballroom fundraiser at the Ritz Carlton and bought a table for $100,000, would you turn him down? And why?

Well, first off, that sounds boring, so I’d turn them down.

We don’t take any money from billionaires. We also make sure that all of our events are accessible to people, no matter their income. We always say you could donate literally $1, and we will make sure that you’ll be there.

Our events are funk shows, and embroidery events that I teach, and it’s a lot of fun. So yeah, I’m good on the ballroom.

You’ve also rejected focus groups in your run. Don’t they serve some kind of purpose for identifying constituents’ concerns and testing your message?

You know, we’ve done some polling when it comes to the typical type of tracker polls that campaigns do, and we kind of see just where people’s priorities are.

But the reason that we didn’t want to focus group test all of our messages is because a lot of this campaign is experimental. And part of our experiment is, “Can I win by just saying what I believe?” A lot of our political system is built on the idea of, “No, that’s impossible.” So I want people to know who I am. I’m not testing to see if this version of me resonates with people more than that version. What you see is what you get.

Is part of your message an appeal to voters about trusting your gut, rather than political orthodoxy, maybe in the same way that Trump has done so effectively?

I mean, kind of, yeah. There are some similar things. Covering the right has been really helpful, not just because I know their tricks, but because I also know how to use their tricks for good, in a weird way.

For instance, they don’t feel any shame. I think that you should be ashamed of sexually assaulting people — for instance, grabbing them by the pussy. But I don’t think that I should have to apologize for a picture of me sitting on a bar that I used to work at in fishnet stockings, which the right always brings out, as if this is something I should be ashamed of. And I feel like a lot of politicians would rush to be like, “Oh no, I’m not like that anymore.” Who cares? How is that hurting anyone? Stop always trying to adjust to their expectations.

That’s a great pic, by the way.

Thank you. I kept it up for a reason.

These are some short-answer questions. What’s the first thing that comes to mind when I say: Kamala Harris.

Bored. Not again.

Tucker Carlson’s replacement, Jesse Watters.

Oh, dear Lord. Can that be the answer?  

Tara Palmieri.

(Laughing) Substack.

Gaza.

Pain.

“Normal gays.”

What does that mean?

That’s what JD Vance calls them.

Oh, right, yeah. All gays. All gays or none of us? I don’t know. Do bisexuals count as normal gays? Just asking.

The Washington Free Beacon.

Do I have thoughts about them?

I saw a hit piece they did on you and your boyfriend.

Oh yeah, that was fun. They picked really cute pictures of us. Way to show everyone we’re, uh, cute. So, insecure?  

You told Buzzfeed, “I’ve gotten more rape threats than I’ve ever seen in my life,” in reaction to your Tucker Carlson monitoring, and, “If I were a man, I would not get 10% of the comments that I get.” Are you getting the same kind of “engagement” in your campaign for Congress?

Oh, 100%. A little bit less, because I don’t use Twitter anymore, but it’s still there.

Oscar Wilde said the only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about. Roy Cohn said something similar, and they were both gay, for what it’s worth. If hitting a nerve and getting that negative attention is in service to getting your message out, is the misogyny a plus, a minus, or a wash?

I don’t think it’s necessarily a plus. I think that it exists, and so why not use it as a tool?

In your online role as a media and political influencer, you were talking for a living — 

Not an influencer, but yeah.

You’ve taken that talent to videos and in-person appearances as part of your campaign. How are you adjusting to the other important role of a potential US representative, just listening?

I mean, I love talking to people. I love listening. And I mean, that was my job as a journalist. You know, I worked for Media Matters, Mother Jones, People for the American Way. I love hearing what people care about. I loved hearing it before the campaign, and I love hearing it now. I like trying to figure out solutions with them.

You own the fact that you’ve posted some “mean tweets,” and have shrugged off the reaction from figures like Elon Musk, who deposed you over your coverage of him. How would you compare Donald Trump’s tweets about Rob Reiner to your own about Elon Musk?

I mean, mine were based in truth. I do think that Rob Reiner would have found Trump’s tweets funny, but for different reasons.

Elon Musk is insecure and fragile, and maybe that guy shouldn’t be making all of our decisions. So is the president. So really, a match made in heaven for the two of them.

Like fellow progressive Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who you mentioned earlier, you were a bartender in your early 20s after college at George Washington University in D.C. What else do you have in common with AOC, and what sets you apart? I don’t think you’ve called yourself a Democratic Socialist.

Oh, I have plenty. I’m a Democratic Socialist.

I’ve had people say like, “Are you trying to be the next AOC?” And I think she is her own thing. She is so unbelievable. She is and has been a huge inspiration for me since she first ran. And one thing that I really appreciate about her is her willingness to embrace new forms of communication and break the mold when a lot of the Democratic Party won’t. I think we both understand digital communication in a way that the party doesn’t at large, and that we are trying to help people through that.

What do you say to critics who’ve accused you of carpetbagging Chicago’s 9th CD?

(Laughing) I always joke that I wish I had some sexy, cool answer to explain why I’m running in the 9th District, but it’s boring. It’s that I like living here. I like being in Rogers Park. I wanted to live here because it’s one of the most diverse communities in the country, and it’s an incredible place to be. I mean, anyone that lives here gets it.

I think that one of the coolest things about this primary is how many candidates there are and how much choice people have. But I am one option, and I want people to be skeptical of people running for office, and that includes me. If there’s someone else that you want to vote for, that’s what a primary is for. So I always encourage people who want to ask any questions, come to the office, or set up a coffee. We’ll meet.

You identify as bisexual, and you’ve been dating your boyfriend for the last year or two. Have you ever had a girlfriend?

I have.

Can you tell us anything about that?

I mean, I’ve had, like, brief, casual relationships with women, and then hook-ups, I guess. I’m not sure I want to say that, but I guess I did.

Anyways, yeah. I mean, for me, it’s always been about what’s in someone’s skull, and less about what’s in their pants.

What does your boyfriend think about that?

Really supportive. He’s fantastic. He’s a great partner. And one of the reasons I had a crush on him before I met him was because of how strongly he stood for the queer community. When a lot of people in media were throwing trans kids under the bus, he said, “Uh, f**k that,” and really focused his reporting on the stochastic terror that has now become ubiquitous around the country, but was really started as attacks on the queer community.

You’ve raised over $1.5 million in campaign contributions, the most of any candidate in the primary. Your closest competitors in the money race are both Jewish, as is the retiring rep in the district. Is House District 9 a Jewish seat, and if so, how do you convince voters that opposition to the Israeli government doesn’t equal antisemitism?

Skokie, which is part of this district, had the most Holocaust survivors outside of Israel, I believe. This has been a district with a huge Jewish population over the years, and that is still very true. This is also one of the most progressive districts in the country, and as a Palestinian person, when I’m talking with people, I always stress how so many people that aren’t in our communities, especially the right, want to pit us against each other. Because they see it as an easy way to use trauma to create more hate.

My position on Israel and Gaza is the same as how I feel about the rest of the world, and that is, every civilian deserves to live a safe, happy life, no child deserves to go to bed hungry, and every war criminal should be held accountable. And that’s the same if it’s the Netanyahu government or Hamas.  

None of what I just said is radical, and it’s not radical to the vast majority of people in America, and certainly not in the 9th District. This is a district that has been impacted inordinately by October 7 compared to a lot of other districts, and at the same time, this is a district that has been fighting for peace and has been represented by someone who has consistently stood against the Netanyahu government.

What are you looking forward to most about serving the constituents of District 9 if you win in November?

A lot of what this campaign has done has been kind of experimental, and I think it would be really exciting to try something new and figure out how we can make our government work the best it can in the same way. I want to be at a point where the government is something that people don’t think about because it works so well.

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