“We Can’t Fall for This Stuff”: Why a MAGA-Media Antagonist Is Running for Congress

Representative Jan Schakowsky is “one of the most progressive members of Congress,” Kat Abughazaleh, who jumped into the congressional race on Monday to vie for the incumbent Democrat’s seat, tells Vanity Fair. “She’s been good. I’ll be better. It’s time.”

The 26-year-old progressive political commentator announced her campaign for Illinois’s Ninth District this week, calling for a “makeover” of the Democratic Party and mounting a challenge to Schakowsky in a potential primary. Schakowsky, 80, has been serving in Congress since 1999, the year that Abughazaleh was born.

Abughazaleh, who moved to Illinois with her partner about a year ago, 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.”

“The right-wing media ecosystem is what moved Republicans. I’ve said this before, but Roger Ailes created Fox to prop up the GOP,” Abughazaleh tells me. “But over the years, it’s made it so the GOP exists to prop up Fox.”

She is well acquainted with the MAGA-media machine through her past work at Media Matters for America, where she produced videos aimed at debunking narratives presented by Fox News and former anchor Tucker Carlson, and her more recent work on TikTok, where, as of this writing, she’s amassed more than 225,000 followers. She’s currently got another 210,000 on X, where she posted a video of herself Monday, urging Democrats “to drop the excuses and grow a fucking spine.”

When asked about Abughazaleh’s run for Schakowsky’s seat, House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said he was not familiar with it. However, he described the incumbent lawmaker as a “long-standing, stalwart progressive member,” while also acknowledging that “there’s a lot of angst, a lot of anxiety…across the country.” Abughazaleh, whose campaign manager posted Monday that the new candidate was already nearing $200,000 in donations, also shot back at Jeffries: “Nice to meet you, Hakeem! It’s time to get familiar.”

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Vanity Fair: For those who maybe aren’t familiar with your previous media work, can you explain what you tackled for Media Matters, Mother Jones, etc.?

Kat Abughazaleh: For Media Matters, I watched Fox News’ prime-time lineup. I was on their night shift team and my specialty was Tucker Carlson specifically. I was monitoring his show every night, analyzing narratives, what was happening, and then explaining it as well, in personal videos on my TikTok during the week. I used to do Fox recaps every week. When I got laid off because of Elon Musk’s lawsuit, I started working with Zeteo News and Mother Jones. [Musk’s company X sued Media Matters in November 2023, claiming the advocacy group’s work had misrepresented the site’s user experience, leading advertisers to leave the social media platform; Media Matters then laid off more than a dozen staffers last year, including Abughazaleh, with president Angelo Carusone citing “a legal assault on multiple fronts” as the reason for the cutbacks.]

Since you have such a specific understanding of the right-wing media ecosystem, do you see that as an advantage in launching a political campaign?

The right-wing media ecosystem is what moved Republicans. I’ve said this before, but Roger Ailes created Fox to prop up the GOP. But over the years, it’s made it so the GOP exists to prop up Fox. If you want to know what Republicans are going to be talking about on the House floor a week in advance, just watch what’s happening at Fox’s 8 p.m. hour. Also, understanding what their lies are and what the aims are, I think, is really important. There are a lot of institutions, including Democrats, that are capitulating because they think that it will result in an easier sentence or less aggression by the Trump administration. That’s not how these people work. We can’t fall for this stuff, and I think having a genuine understanding of that helps.

Can you explain the decision to challenge a long-serving Democrat? I noticed your website notes that you were born the year following Rep. Jan Schakowsky’s first win in the district. Why do you see this as a problem?

She hasn’t actually announced. I’m the only candidate in this race right now. I’m not sure if she will announce; she has filed. But my thought in this district is that people deserve more choice. I think that’s a really big issue in the Democratic Party, this belief that we shouldn’t ever challenge things or try something new until the right moment, and the right moment never comes. If Kamala Harris focused on being a change candidate, rather than presenting [Joe] Biden’s legacy, I think we might be in a different position here today. As far as Jan Schakowsky, she’s one of the most progressive members of Congress. She’s been good. I’ll be better. It’s time.

Can you speak to the issues that you plan to tackle on the campaign trail? Are there any ideological differences there?

I think the biggest difference would be in our lived experiences. There’s just some things you can’t understand unless you’re living through them right now. I mean, my parents, for instance, never had to go through school shooter drills. My parents had health insurance. It’s hard to understand what a lot of constituents, especially millennials and Gen Z people, are facing unless you are actively facing it yourself.

In your announcement video, you call for a “makeover” of the Democratic Party. Can you expand on that? What needs to change from the status quo to either combat Trump or engage young voters?

The biggest thing is not only being flexible, but also being strong. You have to do both. You can’t keep telling your constituents they’re the ones in the wrong. These consultants who haven’t won a presidential election since Barack Obama, or before, are the ones that are right. You can’t at the same time be saying that Donald Trump is the next coming of fascism but then also vote for his budget that gives him and Elon Musk unprecedented powers.

As a member of Gen Z, it feels like there’s growing representation of younger politicians. Can you expand on why that’s important right now?

These generations are just being left out in the cold after being told by these institutions that are run by people that are much older, that they’re delusional, or that things have always been this way. And they haven’t. The things that are happening right now are not normal. It’s not normal to not be able to afford health care anywhere else in the world. It’s not normal to deport people without due process. These aren’t normal things. Rather than just either ignoring it or pretending that you understand, or offering solutions that don’t actually help, having proper representation leads to a better future. It’s that simple. We know what we need, and we need to be in power, or have representation in power, so that way it can be delivered.

What are your plans for the campaign trail? Can you speak to how you intend to engage with voters and connect with them in a way that might be unorthodox?

We’re focusing a lot on the ground, community-type stuff. So for example, in our first launch event, we are trying to uplift the Chicago Period Collective. Instead of needing a donation to get in, you just bring a box of tampons or pads, and those are all going to be donated to this organization that provides period products to shelters and schools and other organizations all over the city. Campaigns use so much money. We would much rather spend that on places where it actually matters, and talking to real people, than on 100k for the Hyatt ballroom for a fancy fundraiser. It’s kind of shocking that that’s not just the norm in how we campaign in this country.

As far as talking with constituents, I can’t wait to talk to people in person at these types of events. But also, people are free to DM me, come on stream. I want to meet people where they are. That doesn’t need to be limited in one way and doesn’t need to be limited to the length of a handshake.