Should Thanksgiving Be Canceled? Socialist Candidate Can’t Give CNN a Straight Answer
“Do you still believe that Thanksgiving should be canceled?”
It seemed like an easy enough question from CNN’s Kaitlan Collins to answer. But not for Francesca Hong (D).
Instead, the democratic socialist candidate — who is running for governor in Wisconsin — gave a rambling 46-second response on Monday night, touching on her professional restaurant experience, her claim that Thanksgiving is “incredibly painful” for many Americans, and her views on the holiday can “evolve.”
In the end, she never gave an actual “yes” or “no” answer.
Collins asked the question after pointing out Hong said Thanksgiving should be aborted in a since-deleted X post from 2021.
“Cancel Thanksgiving. Should have done this in 1621,” Hong posted. “If it takes a worldwide pandemic for us to realize we should stop celebrating colonialism and the original superspreader event that killed Indegenous [sic] folx [sic] and women so be it.”
The Source anchor then asked if Hong still felt the same way.
Here is her full answer:
I’m a chef, and one of the first meals that I made that was for the community when i was 16 was a Thanksgiving meal. I always think my hospitality background and owning a restaurant for 7-8 years, that bringing folks around the table to share conversation and build community is always a good thing.
But Thanksgiving is also a time that’s incredibly painful for many people in our communities. So I think there I wanted to make sure people understood there are multiple views, but views can evolve.
And the position I’m running for right now — and I think my background as a chef will actually help me become a better governor that’s able to bring more people to the table.
The interview ended there.
Hong’s CNN appearance came a week after she was confronted about her past support for abolishing police — an idea she has recently backtracked on.
She gave Politico a head-scratching answer about prison employee suicide rates and vague plans like “building systems of care” when asked about it.
When asked by Collins on Monday night if she still wanted to abolish cops and prisons, she said she was “not interested in abolishing prisons” and would not defund the police if she became governor.
Watch above via CNN.
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