Francesca Hong, the Democratic Socialists of America-backed frontrunner in Wisconsin's gubernatorial primary, is drawing fire after deleted social media posts resurfaced, including a 2020 call to "Cancel Thanksgiving" and a 2019 complaint about "old white people" at a Culver's restaurant.

With fewer than two weeks before the August 11 primary, Hong's old posts on X handed conservative critics fresh ammunition and raised questions about whether the likely Democratic nominee can compete statewide in a battleground that often turns on the votes of the very people she once described as a source of anxiety. The New York Post reported that both posts drew widespread mockery online Friday, with commentators from across the right seizing on the deleted Thanksgiving message and the still-visible Culver's post.

Hong's November 2020 post, since deleted from X, read plainly enough: "Cancel Thanksgiving. Should have done this in 1621." A follow-up elaborated on the reasoning:

"If it takes a worldwide pandemic for us to realize we should stop celebrating colonialism and the original superspreader event that killed indigenous folx [sic] and women, so be it."

The spelling of "folks" as "folx", a progressive neologism meant to signal inclusivity, drew its own round of attention. Conservative podcaster Stephen Miller posted a one-word reply on X: "'Folx.'"

A Culver's visit that became a liability

The Thanksgiving post was not the only resurfaced message causing problems. A 2019 post, still live on X, described Hong's visit to a Culver's in Black River Falls, a small city in western Wisconsin. In it, she wrote:

"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 (sic) many old white people who didn't think we spoke english."

Hong followed up by correcting her own grammar: "Omg English ***TOO **AN."

For a candidate running statewide in Wisconsin, where Culver's is a near-sacred institution and the electorate skews older and whiter than the national average, the post read like a self-inflicted wound. Commentators wasted no time.

Alex Pfeiffer, a former White House Principal Deputy Communications Director, wrote on X:

"Bold choice for Democrats in Wisconsin running someone statewide who gets a panic attack at Culver's at the sight of 'old white people.'"

Chuck Ross, an investigative reporter at the Washington Free Beacon, added his own jab:

"The only way this post could be worse for someone running for office in Wisconsin is if she had complained that Culver's uses too much butter."

And an online MAGA personality posting under the name Brick Suit zeroed in on a different detail entirely:

"One of the democrats running for Governor of Wisconsin doesn't know that Culver's serves only fresh frozen custard. She thinks they serve ice cream. Disqualifying."

Hong outraises her rival nearly three to one

The timing matters. Hong enters the final stretch of the primary as the clear fundraising leader, having raised nearly $709,000 as of late June, per Wisconsin state campaign finance records. Her remaining major rival, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, has raised $250,000. Outgoing Gov. Tony Evers endorsed Crowley, citing his experience. But Hong holds endorsements from Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Rep. Ro Khanna of California, national progressive figures whose backing signals where the party's activist energy sits.

Hong has not been shy about her ideological positioning. She is backed by the Democratic Socialists of America and has leaned into that record on the campaign trail, championing race-based grants for social workers, publicly funded grocery stores, and a state-run bank. She has described her campaign as ensuring that "working-class people have their fair share."

The comparison to New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, another self-proclaimed socialist, is not lost on observers watching whether progressive candidates can hold ground outside deep-blue urban cores.

Barnes's exit reshapes the primary

Hong's emergence as the likely nominee accelerated Thursday when Mandela Barnes, the state's former lieutenant governor, dropped out of the race. Barnes had been considered a frontrunner because of his name recognition and his proximity to Gov. Evers. His departure coincided with reports that the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is investigating allegations that Barnes may have abused his position to make sexual advances toward women in the workplace. Barnes's stated reason for exiting, if he offered one publicly, was not reported.

With Barnes gone, the primary narrowed to Hong and Crowley. And the resurfaced posts ensured that Hong's first full news cycle as the presumptive frontrunner was spent not on policy rollouts or endorsement announcements but on damage control over years-old social media.

One observer on X summed up the situation bluntly:

"Francesca Hong is all but certain to be the Democratic nominee for governor of Wisconsin. She also wants to 'Cancel Thanksgiving,' according to a since-deleted tweet. What is going on in Wisconsin??"

Hong has not publicly addressed either post, according to available reporting from the New York Post.

Wisconsin voters will decide what the posts reveal

The deleted Thanksgiving message and the Culver's post share a thread. Both treat ordinary American life, a national holiday, a family restaurant, as sites of grievance. Both frame the people around Hong, the voters she now needs, as problems to endure rather than neighbors to represent. And both were written before she ran for governor, when the audience was presumably sympathetic.

Whether Wisconsin Democrats care is another question. The August 11 primary will answer it. But for a candidate who wants to govern a state full of Culver's-loving, Thanksgiving-celebrating voters, the posts offer a window into a worldview that treats those voters' traditions with open contempt.

Voters tend to notice when a candidate's first instinct is to cancel their holiday and flee their restaurant.