Forum

Democrat frontrunner Wisconsin Democratic Socialist Francesca Hong took to X with a blunt demand: “Cancel Thanksgiving. Should have done this in 1621.”

She followed it by framing the holiday as a celebration of “colonialism and the original superspreader event that killed indigenous folx and women.” The post has since been deleted, but it has resurfaced at the worst possible moment for her campaign. With former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes suddenly out of the race, Hong stands as the clear frontrunner for the Democratic nomination for governor ahead of the August 11 primary.

Hong is a no fringe candidate. Backed by the Democratic Socialists of America and progressive figures such as Rep. Ilhan Omar, she champions race-based grants, publicly funded grocery stores, and a state-run bank. She describes her politics as delivering working-class people “their fair share.” Yet that 2020 post reveals a deeper hostility toward one of America’s most unifying traditions—a day set aside for gratitude, family, and acknowledgment of provision beyond ourselves.

Remember, the Pilgrims who gathered in 1621 gave thanks to God after surviving a brutal winter and receiving help from the Wampanoag.

George Washington later proclaimed a national day of thanksgiving and prayer to the “Almighty God.” Abraham Lincoln formalized the holiday in 1863 amid the Civil War, calling the nation to gratitude for “the gracious gifts of the Most High God.”

For generations of Americans—farmers, immigrants, soldiers, and families around crowded tables—the day has meant more than turkey. It has meant recognizing that life, harvest, freedom, and mercy are gifts, not entitlements.

Hong’s language reduces that history to “colonialism” and a “superspreader event.” In doing so, she joins a familiar progressive pattern that treats traditional American customs as original sins rather than imperfect human attempts to honor higher truths.

The same impulse that once targeted Columbus Day, the national anthem, or even the phrase “Merry Christmas” now turns its sights on a holiday whose very name is “thanks.” When gratitude itself becomes suspect, what remains?

This America hatred reflects a worldview that views Western civilization, the American founding, and the biblical call to give thanks as problems to be dismantled. Scripture repeatedly commands thanksgiving—not as optional politeness, but as a posture of the heart. “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever” (Psalm 107:1). Paul writes, “In everything give thanks” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). A culture that systematically undermines the habit of gratitude is not advancing justice; it is severing people from the very source of hope and humility.

Wisconsin is not a radical coastal enclave. It is a state of dairy farms, small towns, manufacturing workers, and churchgoing families who still gather in November to pray over the meal. A candidate who once urged canceling that tradition is asking those same voters to trust her with the state’s highest office.

Thanksgiving will endure long after campaign cycles fade. It endures because people still need to look up from their struggles and say thank you—to family, to neighbors, and ultimately to God. Candidates who treat that impulse as colonial residue are not merely rewriting history. They are asking a thankful people to stop being thankful.

Let the truth be known, she doesn’t want just to cancel Thanksgiving; she wants to cancel God and His bountiful blessing He has shed upon America.