Politicians Who Attack Thanksgiving Pay a Political Price
Source: https://www.facebook.com/americanspectator/. "Thanksgiving Saved Again — Francesca Hong Lost | The American Spectator | USA News and Politics." August 14, 2026. spectator.org
The Gist
The article argues that a Wisconsin political candidate lost her election partly because she criticized Thanksgiving and couldn't clearly explain her past comments about wanting to cancel it. The author's takeaway: politicians should never mess with beloved American holidays like Thanksgiving if they want to win elections.
Conclusion
Politicians should avoid criticizing or suggesting changes to Thanksgiving (and similar cherished American holidays), because doing so will damage their political prospects.
Premises
- Francesca Hong, a democratic socialist candidate for Wisconsin governor, lost her primary after failing to adequately explain past social media posts suggesting she wanted to cancel Thanksgiving.
- Hong gave a rambling, evasive answer when directly asked on CNN whether she still believed Thanksgiving should be canceled.
- Millions of Americans regard individual holidays, including Thanksgiving, as close to sacred, with deep-rooted traditions (turkey, the Macy's parade, football).
- Thanksgiving has a long history in America generally and in Wisconsin specifically, dating back to official state observances in 1830.
- Media coverage (HuffPost, Mediaite) and political opponents (Rep. Tom Tiffany) directly linked Hong's Thanksgiving comments to her electoral defeat.
- Hong came close to winning (within 3,500 votes), suggesting her Thanksgiving-related missteps may have been a decisive factor in her loss.
Assumptions
- The correlation between Hong's Thanksgiving comments and her narrow loss implies causation.
- Voters' attachment to Thanksgiving traditions translates into voting behavior against candidates who criticize the holiday.
- Media framing of the 'Thanksgiving' angle accurately reflects the true reasons for Hong's electoral loss, rather than other factors (e.g., missing Milwaukee election results, mentioned but downplayed in the article).
- Criticizing a holiday's origins or suggesting it evolve is equivalent to wanting to 'cancel' it entirely.
- American holidays like Thanksgiving are politically untouchable regardless of legitimate historical or social critiques.