Wisconsin’s leading Democratic gubernatorial contender on Wednesday reversed her support for canceling Thanksgiving, as she faces a steep path towards winning over more centrist voters in the race.
Socialist Francesca Hong is viewed as the favorite to clinch the Democratic primary nomination on Aug. 11, though no polling has been released since her top rival, former lieutenant governor Mandela Barnes, dropped out of the race, leaving Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley to coalesce establishment support ahead of the election.
With less than a week before the primary, Hong backed away from her previous support of canceling Thanksgiving during an interview with Politico, after declining to confirm whether she still held the position a few days ago.
“My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving,” Hong said. “Yep, I don’t want to cancel it. I actually love it.”
“You know, I’m just I’m gonna be real,” the socialist candidate said. “I’m kind of a curmudgeon when it comes to holidays in general.”
Hong’s stance is a shift from her words on Monday, when she was pressed on her 2020 support for axing the holiday. Earlier this week, the gubernatorial contender told CNN that she still believes Thanksgiving is a “time that’s incredibly painful for many people in our communities.”
“I’m a chef, and one of the first meals that I made that was for the community when I was 16 [years old] was a Thanksgiving meal,” Hong said. “I always think my hospitality background in owning a restaurant for seven, eight years, that bringing folks around the table to share conversation and build community is always a good thing.”
“But Thanksgiving is also a time that’s incredibly painful for many people in our communities,” she continued. “And so I think there, I wanted to make sure that people understood that there are multiple views, but views can evolve.”
The controversy stems from a now-deleted post on X Hong made in 2020, during COVID-19.
“Cancel Thanksgiving. Should have done this in 1621,” Hong wrote. “If it takes a worldwide pandemic for us to realize we should stop celebrating colonialism and the original superspreader event that killed Indegenous folx and women so be it.”
A DSA GOVERNOR? FRANCESCA HONG TESTS WHETHER SOCIALISM CAN WIN STATEWIDE IN WISCONSIN
Should Hong win next Tuesday, she would be the latest in a series of socialist-aligned candidates who have secured victories against establishment-backed figures in Democratic primaries.
In Michigan, Abdul el Sayed, who is backed by socialists, won the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate on Wednesday, delivering a bruising defeat to Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI), who represented the more centrist wing of the party.