Francesca Hong, the Democratic Socialist who’s leading in the polls to be the Democratic Party nominee for Wisconsin governor, is now best known nationally for a call for “canceling” Thanksgiving. She did so in a 2020 social media post that went on to say, “If it takes a worldwide pandemic for us to realize we should stop celebrating colonialism and the original superspreader event that killed ...

Ilhan Omar during a campaign rally on Aug. 2, 2026, in Milwaukee.

Joshua Lott/Getty Images North America/TNS

Francesca Hong, the Democratic Socialist who’s leading in the polls to be the Democratic Party nominee for Wisconsin governor, is now best known nationally for a call for “canceling” Thanksgiving.

She did so in a 2020 social media post that went on to say, “If it takes a worldwide pandemic for us to realize we should stop celebrating colonialism and the original superspreader event that killed Indigenous folx and women so be it.”

Hong long ago deleted the post, for obvious reasons, but nothing on the internet ever really dies.

So now, in the midst of a campaign in which term-limited Democratic Gov. Tony Evers is endorsing a primary rival and warning that she probably won’t be able to beat Republican Tom Tiffany in the general election, Hong had an opportunity Monday on CNN to reassure Wisconsinites that she does indeed favor preserving Thanksgiving as a treasured national holiday.

Here is what she should have said: “I wrote that during an intense period in our nation’s history, and I deleted it for a reason. It doesn’t reflect what I believe. Thanksgiving is simply a time in which we join with family and friends to express gratitude for the earth’s bounty. We all can agree that is a good thing.”

But that is not what she said. Oh, no. Not at all.

First, she began by saying she had been a chef before she was a politician and that coming together around a table is positive. “But Thanksgiving is also a time that is incredibly painful for many people in our communities,” she said. Did she respond directly to the yes or no question? That is, does she still desire to cancel Thanksgiving?

She did not. Respond directly, that is.

By so dodging, Hong has managed to make what should be a nonissue in any gubernatorial race, given that governors have no power to cancel national holidays, into something that will be front and center in the campaign should she go on to win the nomination in the Aug. 11 primary. That is political malpractice of the highest order.

But perhaps there’s a silver lining for others with ambitions for high office.

Hong’s handling of her past online misadventures serves as a cautionary blueprint of what not to do, particularly for those who like the 37-year-old DSA’er and can barely remember the pre-internet age. Many people, even those considerably older, posted things on social media that in hindsight were inadvisable.

So if considering running for election, be prepared to be confronted with something stupid you posted in the past and say it doesn’t reflect what you think now. Don’t equivocate. Don’t justify. Reasonable people understand that the social media age can be a trap for many of us. Especially those of us who did not see a lot of nuance in our impassioned youth.

Unless, of course, you really do want to run for statewide office in purple Wisconsin on the anti-Thanksgiving platform.

Good luck with that.

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