Cancel Thanksgiving? CNN Dodge Fuels Fire

A deleted 2020 post telling Americans to “Cancel Thanksgiving” just crashed into Wisconsin’s governor race, and the candidate at the center now says she loves the holiday.

Story Snapshot

A 2020 post attributed to Francesca Hong urged “Cancel Thanksgiving,” resurfacing during her governor run.
Hong avoided a clear yes-or-no on CNN about whether she still stands by that post, saying views can evolve.
Reporting shows a second 2020 message calling Thanksgiving “the colonizer holiday”.
Republican critics use the posts to paint a pattern, while Hong now says she loves the holiday.

What Sparked The Firestorm

August coverage in national and Wisconsin outlets resurfaced a deleted 2020 post attributed to Francesca Hong that said “Cancel Thanksgiving,” linking the holiday to colonialism and pandemic spread. The renewed attention arrived during her competitive bid for governor. The timing gave opponents fresh material and forced the campaign to respond fast. The original post is deleted, so most people are seeing screenshots and quotes in news reports rather than the platform record itself.

Additional reporting described a second message from November 2020 in which Hong called Thanksgiving “the colonizer holiday,” adding weight beyond a single post. Together, the two items fuel claims that her stance was not a one-off pandemic comment. The posts also intersect with identity debates and long-running fights over how schools and public leaders discuss American history. That mix makes the controversy easy to amplify during a campaign.

How Hong Answered And What Voters Heard

When asked on CNN this week whether she still backed “canceling” Thanksgiving, Hong did not give a direct yes-or-no reply, according to multiple outlets. Reports say she emphasized that views can change and that the holiday can be painful for some people. That answer satisfied some supporters but left critics saying she dodged. Later coverage shows Hong saying she loves Thanksgiving, which seems like a partial walk-back meant to steady the campaign.

Democrats and Republicans both know how fast a short clip can define a race. Campaigns now plan for old posts to resurface and test how a candidate handles heat. In this case, Republicans and conservative media linked the Thanksgiving comments with other past remarks to argue a larger pattern. That bundling tactic is common and effective because it turns one debate into a character test. Voters then judge consistency as much as any single policy point.

Why This Matters Beyond One Post

Competitive races often become referendums on trust. Voters in both parties say they are tired of leaders who dodge straight answers. They also resent culture fights that seem to ignore kitchen-table costs and public safety. This story taps both nerves. To conservatives, the “cancel” line looks like contempt for tradition. To many liberals, the walk-back looks like hedging. To a growing middle, it looks like another example of political class spin.

Francesca Hong remarks Thanksgiving is her 'favorite holiday,' answers she does not 'want to cancel it' https://t.co/F1iRKiKiam #FoxNews

— Greg Shields (@GregShield83077) August 6, 2026

The evidence has limits. The key post is deleted, and the record depends on secondary reporting rather than the original platform thread. That weakens claims about exact context. Still, the quotes appear across several outlets with consistent wording, and the CNN exchange is widely described the same way. The bottom line for voters is simple: an old post called to cancel a beloved holiday; the candidate now expresses support for it. The gap is the issue.