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A TikTok star claims that Elon Musk’s lawyers probed her over a series of critical tweets amid an announcement that she is running for Congress.
Kat Abughazaleh, 26, a Gen-Z influencer who is known as Kat Abu, has declared she’s “not scared of standing up” to President Donald Trump and Elon Musk after she revealed her political ambitions in Illinois’s 9th District because of a “spineless” Democratic party who are failing to intervene.
Perhaps to demonstrate her willingness to stand up to Musk, Abughazaleh revealed that she was deposed by the Tesla billionaire’s lawyers “a few months ago.” She did not elaborate on the deposition.
The Independent contacted Musk’s lawyers for comment.
The young Texan, who rose to fame during the first Trump administration with her hot take videos on various issues of the day, declared in a two-and-a-half-minute YouTube video that “Trump and Elon Musk are dismantling our country piece by piece.”
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“Unfortunately, this party [the Democrats] has become one where you have to look for the exceptions of real leadership as the majority work from an outdated playbook.”, she stated.
“We need a makeover.”
Pledging that she would advocate for better economic policy and social welfare, Abughazaleh said it was necessary to “stand up to authoritarians” and “not shrink away when the fight gets tough.”
The Democratic Party has grappled with multiple internal rifts since losing the November 2024 presidential election.
Just weeks before her announcement, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer allowed for a Republican spending bill to pass through the Senate – a move that prevented a government shutdown but cemented internal party divisions. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez lashed out at Schumer’s decision, calling it a “tremendous mistake.”
Abughazaleh, without explicitly mentioning names, called the Democrats out for “cowering to Trump” and explained that she was now stepping up after an “entire career of reporting on the far-right.”
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The young campaigner would effectively be teed up against Rep. Jan Schakowsky in a primary battle for the northern Chicago suburbs of Evanston, Skokie, and Niles.
Her announcement has sparked quite a reaction on X, with New York Times politics reporter Kellen Browning writing: “A 26-year-old progressive influencer running against an 80-year-old 14-term Dem incumbent. If Gen Z is as fed up with the status quo as they say, I wonder if we’ll be seeing a lot of these kinds of matchups.”
Another chimed in to comment: “Kat Abughazaleh moved to the Chicago area in July but voted in DC in 2024. She said she registered to vote in Illinois in February and currently lives outside the district but plans to move there ‘soon.’ A serious, legitimate candidate doesn’t act like this.”
According to public records, Abughazaleh formerly voted in Dallas County, Texas, before later voting in D.C. County, Washington, in 2022.
