Socialist candidate unable to walk back call to 'cancel Thanksgiving' when given chance by CNN host

Kaitlan Collins, Francesca Hong.

The 37-year-old socialist candidate currently lapping the Democrat field ahead of Wisconsin's gubernatorial primary next week isn't backing off her 2021 declaration that the U.S. should "cancel Thanksgiving," even when given a chance during a softball interview on CNN Monday night.

A flurry of controversial past remarks made by Hong, a self-described dues-paying member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), has been resurfacing in recent days since several of her rivals in the governor's race dropped out and her lead over the remaining candidates has widened. One of the most shocking comments to re-emerge was a tweet she made in November 2020, during the height of the pandemic and in the months following the George Floyd hysteria, in which she called for one of the most quintessentially American national holidays to be discontinued. 

"Cancel Thanksgiving," Hong declared. "Should have done this in 1621."

Hong appeared on CNN Monday evening for an interview with Kaitlan Collins, who gave Hong all sorts of chances to distance herself from the radical DSA platform and whether she still believed in canceling Thanksgiving. Hong couldn't bring herself to say no or walk back the incendiary Thanksgiving remark in any way. Instead, Hong offered a meandering answer about her background as a chef, and then said, "Thanksgiving is also a time that's incredibly painful for many people in our communities."

Pollster Frank Luntz said in a post on X, "This is one of the worst answers I’ve ever heard to a simple yes/no question. "It may win you points with DSA progressives, but it will not convince a single undecided voter in a 50-50 swing state to support you."

Elsewhere in the interview, Collins asked Hong about her repeated calls for defunding the police over the years and that a perfect world would be one without prisons. Hong responded saying a world without prisons is "aspirational."

A torrent of past comments and declarations made by Hong over the last six years has been coming to light as she closes in on being the Democrats' nominee for governor. One of the most salacious to emerge is a video clip from a past interview in which Hong demands “it's about f**king time we 86 Trump.”

Below, watch a portion of her interview with Kaitlan Collins.