Nick Catoggio, who previously used the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

Allahpundit, is a

blogger A blog (a Clipping (morphology), truncation of "weblog") is an informational website consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries also known as posts. Posts are typically displayed in Reverse chronology, reverse chronologic ...

and former senior editor for the American political news and commentary website

Hot Air ''Hot Air'' is a conservatism in the United States, conservative American political blog. It is written by Ed Morrissey, John Sexton, and David Strom. Karen Townsend and Jazz Shaw wrote for the blog until their deaths in 2024. The pseudonymous ...

from its founding in 2006 through his resignation on September 2, 2022. After moving to

The Dispatch ''The Dispatch'' is an American center-right subscription-based online magazine founded by Jonah Goldberg, Stephen F. Hayes, and Toby Stock. Several of ''The Dispatchs staff (including Hayes) are alumni of '' The Weekly Standard'', whi ...

, Catoggio writes a daily newsletter, "Boiling Frogs", under his own name.

Hot Air

The persona of Allahpundit first appeared through a parody blog, ''Allah Is In the House'', which rose in popularity circa 2003 by being referenced throughout the

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

and anti-jihadist blogosphere. In March and April 2006, Allahpundit guest-blogged for

Michelle Malkin Michelle Malkin (; Maglalang; born October 20, 1970) is an American conservative political commentator. She was a Fox News contributor and in May 2020 joined Newsmax TV. Malkin has written seven books and founded the conservative commentary ...

before becoming the most active contributor to Malkin's Hot Air. Hot Air is widely referenced by political bloggers and news reporters and Allahpundit's commentary has become a reliable source for those seeking a Libertarian-conservative take on the political news of the day—such as former ''

The Daily Show ''The Daily Show'' is an American late-night talk show, late-night talk and news satire television program. It airs each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central in the United States, with extended episodes released shortly after on Paramount+ ...

'' host

Jon Stewart Jon Stewart (born Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz, November 28, 1962) is an American comedian, writer, producer, director, political commentator, actor, and television host. The long-running host of ''The Daily Show'' on Comedy Central from 1999 to 20 ...

, who cited Allahpundit as one of the bloggers he read for show preparation. In February 2010,

Salem Communications Salem Media Group, Inc. (formerly Salem Communications Corporation) is an American radio broadcaster, internet content provider, and magazine and book publisher based in Irving, Texas, targeting audiences interested in Christian values and wha ...

purchased Hot Air from Michelle Malkin and it was said Allahpundit and his co-blogger, Ed Morrissey, were a central part of the deal. Salem is known for its

social conservatism Social conservatism is a political philosophy and a variety of conservatism which places emphasis on Tradition#In political and religious discourse, traditional social structures over Cultural pluralism, social pluralism. Social conservatives ...

, but Hot Air has maintained its more social libertarian tone. On August 3, 2022, Allahpundit announced on Twitter that his last day at Hot Air would be September 2, 2022.

Viewpoints

Allahpundit's prominence on Hot Air has been a contentious issue for some of the site's ardent Christian conservative readers, as he is often criticized by his own readership for his

atheism Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the Existence of God, existence of Deity, deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the ...

and for his frequent disagreement with " hard-right" political opinion, especially on social issues. Allahpundit's overall writing tone is one of conversational, deadpan humor, and he is known particularly for his self-deprecating tone and general lack of enthusiasm, for which he has earned the nickname "Eeyore" or "Eeyorepundit." In September 2004, Allahpundit was key to debunking of the Killian documents controversy, in which ''

60 Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who distinguished it from other news programs by using a unique style o ...

'' anchor

Dan Rather Daniel Irvin Rather Jr. (; born October 31, 1931) is an American journalist, commentator, and former national evening news anchor. He began his career in Texas, becoming a national name after his reporting saved thousands of lives during Hurrica ...

aired a segment about documents purporting to prove that

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

went

AWOL Desertion is the abandonment of a military duty or post without permission (a pass, liberty or leave) and is done with the intention of not returning. This contrasts with unauthorized absence (UA) or absence without leave (AWOL ), which ...

from the

Texas Air National Guard The Texas Air National Guard (TX ANG) is the aerial militia of the U.S. state of Texas. It is a reserve of the United States Air Force and part of the Texas National Guard, alongside the Texas Army National Guard. No element of the Texas Air Nati ...

in 1973 - documents ultimately revealed to be forgeries.

Mary Mapes Mary Alice Mapes (born May 9, 1956) is an American journalist, former television news Television producer, producer, and author. She was a principal producer for CBS News, primarily the ''CBS Evening News'' and primetime television program ''60 ...

, producer of ''60 Minutes'', blamed Allahpundit, among others, for "working anonymously in what appeared to be huge numbers, in unison, to destroy the Bush-Guard story." Largely due to this controversy, the website was among the Top Blogs Cited in Political Postings for the

2004 United States presidential election Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 2, 2004. Incumbent Republican President George W. Bush and his running mate, incumbent Vice President Dick Cheney, were re-elected to a second term. They narrowly defeated ...

. Allahpundit's moniker harkens back to his original blog, Allah Is In The House, which was a highly irreverent parody of "a jihadist's version of Allah" and a way to vent frustration about

geopolitics Geopolitics () is the study of the effects of Earth's geography on politics and international relations. Geopolitics usually refers to countries and relations between them, it may also focus on two other kinds of State (polity), states: ''de fac ...

in a post-

9/11 The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

political climate. He did note on his original blog a disclaimer to the effect that his moniker was not "anti-Muslim" and that he differentiated between extremists and peaceful practicing Muslims. Despite his relative fame, Allahpundit has managed to remain anonymous; "in an era when most bloggers treat their names like precious branding manna, his insistence on keeping a pseudonym has an anachronistic, early 2000s feel to it." In October 2021, Allahpundit expressed agreement with

Bill Maher William MaherStated on ''Finding Your Roots'', January 12, 2016, PBS; on a series that lists "Jr." and "Sr." distinctions, Bill Maher's birth name was listed simply as William Maher, while his father was William Aloysius Maher Jr., and his pa ...

's criticism of

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

's false claims of fraud in the 2020 presidential election and his ongoing attacks against the results and integrity of elections, saying " aher is right even if Republicans don't want to hear it. And it's a show of integrity on his part that he felt obliged to drop this truth bomb at the very moment that he's gaining right-wing fans for his anti-

woke ''Woke'' is an adjective derived from African-American English used since the 1930s or earlier to refer to awareness of racial prejudice and Racial discrimination, discrimination, often in the construction ''stay woke''. The term acquired p ...

commentary."

Allah Is In The House blog

''Allah Is In the House'' began on August 27, 2003. The author wrote using the name of

Allah Allah ( ; , ) is an Arabic term for God, specifically the God in Abrahamic religions, God of Abraham. Outside of the Middle East, it is principally associated with God in Islam, Islam (in which it is also considered the proper name), althoug ...

, using similar language to that of

terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

organizations but assuming the viewpoint of Allah as interpreted by mainstream Muslims. The blog specialized in written and

Photoshop Adobe Photoshop is a raster graphics editor developed and published by Adobe for Windows and macOS. It was created in 1987 by Thomas and John Knoll. It is the most used tool for professional digital art, especially in raster graphics editin ...

-based political satire. After a hiatus in May 2004, the blog reemerged, continuing its satiric nature while largely abandoning the "Allah voice". However, after October 2004 the blog stopped being regularly updated and abandoned the web address allahpundit.com without explanation. After occasional entries at allahakbar.blogspot.com, the blog shut down altogether. The blog's approach and humor caused it to become mocked days after its inception, though it was cited by many of the top conservative bloggers and many blog-sympathetic writers of the time including Roger L. Simon, who wrote, "These days I learn more from Allahpundit, where I found this link, than I ever do from ''

Meet the Press ''Meet the Press'' is a weekly American television Sunday morning talk show broadcast on NBC. It is the List of longest-running television shows by category, longest-running program on American television, though its format has changed since th ...

''." Posts from Allahpundit's old ''Allah Is In The House'' blog are archived at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

, although the image files are not.

Ranking

"Hot Air is one of the biggest, most influential conservative sites on the Web" and has been since its 2006 founding. In 2007, Michelle Malkin credited AllahPundit with "turn ngthe site into a must-read," thus causing it to rise in popularity "from nowhere to a top-30 site on

Technorati Technorati is a search engine and a publisher advertising platform. Technorati launched its ad network in 2008. In 2016, Synacor acquired Technorati for $3 million. The company's core product was previously an Internet search engine for search ...

's Top 100 list." Hot Air would regularly places in the top ten rankings of politically conservative commentary websites.

References

External links

AllahPundit's Youtube channel

Allahpundit on Twitter

Archives of ''Allah Is in the House''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Allahpundit Living people American bloggers American atheists American political writers Anonymous bloggers 21st-century American non-fiction writers Pseudonymous writers on Islam 1970s births Year of birth missing (living people)