Wisconsin's frontrunner for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination just tried pulling off one of the most creative excuse maneuvers in recent political memory, and it blew up right in her face.
Francesca Hong, a self-described Democratic Socialist heavily favored to lock up her party's nod for governor, got cornered about a string of incendiary old tweets. Her response? She blamed them on her college dream of becoming a sports reporter. Yes, you read that correctly. As first reported here, Hong delivered the line with a smirk during a press gaggle, saying that aspiring sports journalists just pick up the habit of firing off "bad takes on Twitter."
Here is where everything crumbles. Hong won her seat in the Wisconsin State House back in 2020. She was a sitting elected official when many of these scorching posts went live. This was not some naive college kid experimenting with hot takes. This was a state representative with actual legislative power.
So what exactly did she post? Buckle up. In November 2020, she told the world to "Cancel Thanksgiving" and declared it should have happened back in 1621. She labeled the holiday, which President Abraham Lincoln established in 1863 to promote unity during the Civil War, as rooted in "genocide." She also called it a "colonizer holiday." Other posts took aim at Valentine's Day and Christmas imagery.
Then things got spicier. In 2019, she described fleeing a Culver's restaurant in Black River Falls because she was nearly having a panic attack over "too many old white people" who supposedly assumed she could not speak English.
But wait, there is more. Posts from 2020 and 2021 included gems like "Police exist to uphold white supremacy. Defund then abolish. Reform can't be an option." She also demanded that the U.S. Senate be abolished entirely. That Senate post came in February 2021, while she was actively serving as a state representative.
Now she is doing damage control on the campaign trail, and the contradictions are absolutely delicious. In a Politico interview, Hong claimed Thanksgiving is actually her favorite holiday and insisted she does not want to cancel it. "I actually love it," she said. She also described herself as "kind of a curmudgeon when it comes to holidays in general." But even while walking things back, she continued claiming on the campaign trail that Thanksgiving is rooted in genocide. So which one is it, Francesca?
The timing of all this could not be juicier. The August 11 primary is practically here. Hong holds a commanding lead in available polls and appears almost certain to grab the Democratic nomination. On the Republican side, U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, a House Freedom Caucus member, is widely expected to secure his party's spot.
So Wisconsin voters are potentially looking at a general election featuring a candidate who wants to abolish police, abolish the Senate, and cancel Thanksgiving, but only when she is not telling reporters how much she loves turkey dinner. You truly cannot make this stuff up.
Read more breaking news stories at: Trending Politics News
