Yashar Ali, originally from Oak Park, Illinois, worked as a Democratic-party fundraiser and as a lobbyist before taking up freelance journalism during the 2016 US Presidential election.

^{[4] [0]}Two weeks before the 2016 election, he published a piece critical of Jill Stein's finances in the IAC-owned Daily Beast. His first article for the media outlet was in praise of Hillary Clinton's stamina. ^[3]He has also written for Huffington Post, New York magazine, and Mother Jones. He lives in NYC. ^[2]