Wisconsin's leading Democratic candidate for governor once branded her own country an "abundance of suffering."
Tonight, Wisconsin's Democratic primary could nominate the nation's first self-described socialist candidate for governor.
There's more Hong said about white voters that she never expected Fox News to find.
Hong's Old Posts Resurface Ahead of the Wisconsin Governor Primary
Francesca Hong wants Wisconsinites to forget her Twitter history and focus on her resume.
Her resume includes three terms in the state Assembly and a career as a Madison chef.
Her Twitter history includes the same 2022 post that opened this article, followed by a call to elect more Black and Brown candidates and a dismissal of anyone who disagreed as a racist obstructionist.
In 2020, Hong posted a call to "cancel Thanksgiving," tying the holiday to smallpox epidemics that killed Native Americans during colonization.
In 2019, Hong wrote about feeling anxious at a Culver's in Black River Falls, saying she left because she was surrounded by older white patrons she assumed couldn't understand English.
She told her son the restaurant had run out of ice cream rather than explain why she wanted to leave.
Hong's Defund the Police Comments Return as Wisconsin Votes
Hong's most damaging posts aren't about Thanksgiving or cheeseburgers.
In April 2021, Hong wrote that policing was inherently violent and rooted in white supremacy, concluding the only fix was to "abolish the institution."
Hong now says only that "people can evolve," insisting she's serious about public safety instead.
She only gave that answer after Fox News host Dana Perino read Hong's own words back to her on live television.
The Democratic Socialists of America has said any candidate it endorses must pledge support for abolishing police and prisons.
Wisconsin's Electoral Socialists put Hong through that same test in January, praising her "commitment to police and prison abolition."
That timeline undercuts her claim that her views changed months earlier.
Republican Tom Tiffany didn't need to ask.
Tiffany stood beside former Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin on the eve of the primary and cast Wisconsin as the last line of defense against a socialist wave that had already swept New York City.
Youngkin went further, calling Hong "the antithesis of America" and accusing her of wanting to defund police, close prisons and gut the military.
Hong Even Apologized for Calling the Cops On Antisemites
In late 2023, Hong called the Madison police twice on her own initiative.
She wanted a paint-splattered Israeli flag surrounded by fake bodies at a pro-Palestinian display investigated as a hate crime.
Hong has since apologized for making those calls.
She now calls that decision a mistake, saying the image itself was staged to mislead.
That apology came only after Hong drew backlash from the same online left she needs to turn out tonight.
Hong also went on to appear on livestreams with commentator Hasan Piker, prompting her own party's Jewish Caucus co-chair to accuse her of abandoning Wisconsin's Jewish community.
She remains the frontrunner heading into tonight's vote regardless.
Tom Tiffany Doesn't Need Evers' Help to Beat Hong
Democrats keep telling themselves this is a Wisconsin problem, contained to one primary, on one night.
It isn't.
Zohran Mamdani already proved a democratic socialist can win a mayor's race in a city built to elect one.
Hong is the test of whether that playbook survives outside Manhattan, in a state Trump carried in 2024.
Gov. Tony Evers won't even endorse her, and he's backing Milwaukee's David Crowley instead.
That's not a conservative talking point.
That's Hong's own governor running for the exits.
If Hong wins her primary tonight, Tiffany doesn't have to invent an attack ad this fall.
He just has to hit play on her own account.
Sources:
- Peter D'Abrosca, "Socialist Wisconsin governor candidate referred to America as 'abundance of suffering,' resurfaced post shows," Fox News, August 11, 2026.
- Fox News Staff, "Francesca Hong defends DSA membership but rejects defunding police," Fox News, July 2026.
- Fox News Staff, "Tom Tiffany warns Wisconsin could become socialism battleground," Fox News, August 10, 2026.
- Amy Curtis, "Francesca Hong Continues to Prove She's Unfit to Lead Wisconsin, but Can Democrats Stop Her?," Townhall, July 8, 2026.
- Amy Curtis, "So Many People Were Canceled for Their Social Media History. Francesca Hong Should Be, Too.," Townhall, August 11, 2026.
- Fox News Staff, "Francesca Hong reverses her stance on defunding police in podcast," Fox News, August 2026.
