Francesca Hong Faces Scrutiny Over Old Posts

Wisconsin governor candidate Francesca Hong is facing fresh scrutiny after a resurfaced X post described America as “an abundance of suffering.” The post, written on Jan. 20, 2022, came as Hong campaigned in the Democratic Party primary for governor and added new attention to her long record of hard-left social media remarks.

In the post, Hong said she wanted the country to become “a wealth of opportunity” instead of “an abundance of suffering.” She tied that goal to equal rights for Black and Brown people and urged voters to elect more Black and Brown leaders, whom she said would not be “racist obstructionists.” Hong, a Wisconsin state representative, has also drawn notice for earlier posts that targeted America’s traditions and institutions.

Among the older comments that resurfaced was a deleted X post in which Hong wrote, “Cancel Thanksgiving. Should have done this in 1621.” She went on to say that a worldwide pandemic should have been enough reason to stop celebrating colonialism and what she described as the “original superspreader event” that killed indigenous people and women. The remarks fit a pattern that has kept Hong in the spotlight as one of several socialists seeking higher office in this year’s Democratic primaries.

Hong, who is Korean American and a former chef as well as a mother of one, also faced criticism over a 2019 post in which she said she felt anxious around White people. In that post, she described stopping at a Culver’s in Black River Falls, making up an excuse to leave early, and saying she was on the verge of a panic attack because there were “too many old white people who didn’t think we spoke english.” The post added another layer to the backlash surrounding her online history.