Francesca Hong was handed the easiest question of her campaign Monday night: Does she still believe Thanksgiving should be canceled?
The Wisconsin state representative and Democratic candidate for governor needed one word. Instead, she talked about her career as a chef, her painful history, multiple perspectives, and how views can evolve.
It wasn't until after the interview ended that her campaign supplied the clear "no" that was needed.
Collins: Do you still believe that Thanksgiving should be canceled?
— Acyn (@Acyn) August 4, 2026
Hong: I'm a chef, and one of the first meals that I made was for the community when I was 16 was a Thanksgiving meal. But Thanksgiving is also a time that's incredibly painful for many people in our communities.… pic.twitter.com/Kd5kBZMxZS
Hong's original statement wasn't vague. "Cancel Thanksgiving. Should have done this in 1621," she wrote in 2020, calling the holiday a celebration of colonialism and "the original superspreader event."
"Cancel Thanksgiving. Should have done this in 1621."
— Fox News (@FoxNews) August 1, 2026
That's the resurfaced message from Wisconsin Democratic gubernatorial candidate Francesca Hong as she closes in on the Democratic nomination.
Another old post also has critics talking after Hong said she was on the verge of… pic.twitter.com/RA92kL5jbM
Years later, she still couldn't reject her words while speaking to a national audience.
My PJ Media teammate, Rick Moran, digs deeper while exploring the clown car that is Hong's campaign:
It's obvious Hong never dreamed she'd be running for governor six years ago. Or maybe she did and doesn't understand that very, very few voters (in Wisconsin) want to "cancel Thanksgiving," make Father's Day and Mother's Day a time of feeling sorry for childless couples, or admit to getting an "anxiety attack" when visiting a Wisconsin-based Culver's restaurant because of all the "white people" eating there.
She's a piece of work, that one. For Thanksgiving, she gave the standard "nothing to celebrate" pablum in a 2020 social media post. She said that the holiday needed to be scrapped, and that America "should have done this in 1621."
Um, it wasn't a holiday in 1621, and there wasn't an America in 1621, and the Pilgrims weren't blessed with second sight. But she's just getting started.
"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 deleted the post but, silly rabbit! The Internet is forever.
Please read the whole thing: Democratic Wisconsin Gubernatorial Nominee Francesca Hong and Her Cavalcade of Comedy.
Her language grew darker Sunday at a South Milwaukee rally.
HOLY CRAP
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) August 4, 2026
Francesca Hong appeared to call to ass*ssinate Trump
“It’s about f***ing time we 86 Trump” pic.twitter.com/HaWElqTQU4
Hong explained that restaurants use "86" when an item is gone, then declared it was "about f*****g time we 86 Trump."
Political candidates know their words travel beyond the room; a woman seeking executive power shouldn't turn language about removing President Donald Trump into a crowd-pleasing punch line.
Read More: Lincoln Made Thanksgiving a National Holiday. Francesca Hong Wanted It Canceled.
Another old post described Hong nearing an anxiety attack at a Culver's in Black River Falls because there were "too many old white people" who didn't think her family spoke 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. Mostly just wanted to leave bc I was on the verge of a anxiety attack...to many old white people who didn't think we spoke english
— Francesca Hong For Governor (@FrancescaHongWI) July 2, 2019
In damage-control mode, Hong tried cleaning up her mess in Aisle 5:
I see that folks are digging up old tweets in an attempt to shift the narrative in this race. I stand by this statement, unequivocally. Their fries also leave much to be desired. The reuben, however, slaps. https://t.co/arujGJaLGD
— Francesca Hong For Governor (@FrancescaHongWI) July 30, 2026
She wasn't chased from Morris Ramen, as some online claims suggest. Her own account still judged a room full of strangers by race and age, a troubling habit for someone asking to govern every corner of Wisconsin.
Read More: Hong Chose Hasan Piker and Ilhan Omar. Wisconsin Should Notice.
Her restaurant record also deserves to be accurately shared. Morris Ramen kept many workers on full salary or at $15 an hour during the 2020 shutdown, aided by a federal Paycheck Protection Program loan.
The business closed in February 2024 after seven years.
From Blueprint 365:
Owned by State Representative Francesca Hong and chef Matt Morris, the restaurant at 106 State Street serves a variety of ramen and Asian-inspired dishes. It survived the pandemic by scrambling to create a take-out menu, figure out how to make their signature high-end noodle dishes reheatable, and stock up on all the packaging and other supplies necessary to convert from a sit-town restaurant to take-out and delivery.
“I think in the hospitality industry where there is a lot of emotional labor that you can’t quantify,” Hong told Madison365 in 2022.
“The service industry is relentless and restaurant work takes incredible skill, determination, and teamwork,” Hong and Morris wrote in their post. “It demands perseverance, a strong sense of self, and grace. This work has never been easy, but working alongside all the world’s best staff helped us trust that we could get through for as long as we did. Please know it is because of our teams that we’ve lived our vision of nourishing souls and building community one bowl of noodles at a time … To be real, dreams die. We have come to terms with this as it has been an extraordinarily taxing couple of years. I think we are broken in ways we can’t really comprehend yet, but we need to give ourselves time to try to feel it.”
Hong was honored in 2021 with a “Head of the Table” award from Bon Appetit Magazine.
Paying employees well is honorable, but good intentions can't keep the doors open when revenue fails to cover expenses.
Wisconsin can't dismiss Hong as a Madison curiosity. A July Marquette Law School poll placed her at 38% in the Democratic primary, with 34% undecided before Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes withdrew.
President Donald Trump carried Wisconsin in 2024 by less than 30,000 votes. Heavy turnout in Madison and Milwaukee can determine who governs people living far beyond the cities.
Wisconsin voters have already shown how quickly control can change. Republican Scott Walker served two terms before Democrat Tony Evers defeated him in 2018. Evers won again in 2022 but isn't seeking a third term.
Republicans now have an opportunity to reclaim the office through Rep. Tom Tiffany.
Former Maine Democrat Senate candidate Graham Platner withdrew after a sexual assault allegation he denied and several earlier controversies. Hong doesn't face comparable allegations, but Platner's exit still offers a political lesson: candidates sometimes become too damaging to the party and voters they claim to represent.
Hong keeps telling Wisconsin who she is; she called for canceling Thanksgiving, divided strangers by race, softened old positions when statewide office came within reach, and chose "86 Trump" as a rally cry.
Her campaign asks voters to believe every troubling statement belongs to an earlier version of Francesca Hong.
Wisconsin shouldn't gamble its governorship on which version would take office. Hong should follow Platner out of the race; Democrats should nominate somebody who can answer a simple question without requiring a cleanup statement afterward.
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