Sen. Bernie Sanders declined to endorse Democratic Socialist Francesca Hong's Wisconsin gubernatorial bid, a snub that drew swift ridicule from critics who noted Sanders has backed far less prominent candidates elsewhere.
Sanders made the statement Wednesday on the Pod Save America podcast, when host Jon Favreau asked directly whether he planned to endorse Hong ahead of Tuesday's Democratic gubernatorial primary. Sanders' two-word answer, "I don't think so", set off a wave of pointed commentary across social media, with observers from both sides of the aisle reading the refusal as a damning judgment on Hong's viability.
Fox News Digital reported that Sanders offered a polite but unmistakable brush-off when pressed on the question. He told Favreau he had met Hong once, years earlier, and found her pleasant enough, but nothing more.
"I met Francesca a couple of years ago. I was in Wisconsin, and she seems very, very nice, but again this is a race I'm just not that familiar with."
Sanders added that his operation has "not gotten involved in many governors' races." Fox News Digital reached out to both the Hong campaign and Sanders' office for comment. Neither responded.
The excuse rang hollow to several commentators, who pointed out that Sanders has endorsed candidates in mayoral races, House races, and at least one other governor's contest. Washington Free Beacon reporter Chuck Ross put the contradiction plainly on X.
"Bernie says he's not backing Francesca Hong because he's focused on the Senate. Yet he's endorsed in mayoral races, House races, and Troy Jackson's failed governor race in Maine. That's how whacky Hong is."
Sanders recently endorsed Troy Jackson, a Maine Democrat who replaced a previous candidate Sanders had also backed. That prior endorsement, of Graham Platner, who was subsequently replaced, drew its own scrutiny. Multiple social media commenters referenced Platner's background in unflattering contrast to Hong.
Jerry Ponio, legislative director for Americans for Prosperity in Wisconsin, posted on X:
"This guy endorsed a guy with a natzi [sic] tat but thinks @FrancescaHongWi is not worth an endorsement....... Yikes."
Politico reporter Will Steakin offered just two words in response to Sanders' refusal: "Says a lot." Conservative commentator Stephen L. Miller framed the contrast more sharply, noting that Sanders appeared willing to extend grace to a candidate with a deeply controversial past while keeping Hong at arm's length.
Hong, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, has staked out positions that place her well to the left of the typical Democratic gubernatorial candidate, even in a party that has lurched leftward in recent cycles. She has previously called for abolishing the U.S. Senate and defunding the police, positions she has recently tried to walk back in interviews ahead of the primary.
And then there is Thanksgiving. Hong posted in November 2021 that the holiday should be canceled outright. The New York Post reported that Hong's original post read: "If it takes a worldwide pandemic for us to realize we should stop celebrating colonialism and the original superspreader event that killed indigenous folx and women, so be it." She has since deleted that post.
Hong now claims Thanksgiving is her "favorite holiday." On Politico's Playbook podcast, she said: "My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving. Yup. I don't want to cancel it, I actually love it." The reversal came after she gave an evasive 46-second non-answer on CNN when asked point-blank whether she still believed the holiday should be canceled.
Republican Tom Tiffany, Hong's likely general-election opponent, seized on the Sanders snub. His campaign account posted on X: "Well, I guess even Bernie enjoys celebrating Thanksgiving at one of his three houses."
Brandon Maly, a Turning Point Action manager, summarized the situation flatly: "Francesca Hong, who is a Socialist candidate for Governor of Wisconsin is too radical...even for Bernie Sanders."
Hong faces three opponents in Tuesday's Democratic primary: Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, former Wisconsin Department of Administration secretary Joel Brennan, and Democratic state Sen. Kelda Roys. Polls suggest Hong is favored to win, though no specific polling numbers or pollsters were cited in available reporting.
On Aug. 2, Hong appeared alongside Rep. Ilhan Omar at a campaign rally in Milwaukee, a signal of where she draws her support and how she intends to run.
The Associated Press noted that Hong's candidacy is part of a broader national pattern of democratic socialists winning in deep-blue strongholds like New York City, Washington, D.C., and Denver. But Wisconsin is not a deep-blue stronghold. It is a battleground state where former Gov. Tony Evers won his two races by just over one and three percentage points, respectively. More moderate Democrats in the state have warned that nominating Hong could cost the party the governor's mansion in a cycle where every margin matters.
Tiffany, the likely Republican nominee, has already framed the general-election choice in blunt terms: "This November, the choice is common sense or crazy."
Hong's recent pivot on Thanksgiving, policing, and the Senate follows a familiar pattern. A candidate stakes out radical positions to build a base, then scrambles to sand down the edges once a broader electorate comes into view. The deleted post. The suddenly favorite holiday. The evasive CNN appearance. The interviews where old pledges get reframed as misunderstandings.
Sanders, who has spent decades as America's most prominent self-described democratic socialist, apparently looked at Hong's brand of politics and decided it was not worth his name. He has endorsed in smaller races, less competitive states, and on behalf of candidates with far more baggage. He chose not to endorse here.
Wisconsin has a historical connection to socialism, it elected the first socialist to Congress in 1910 and saw multiple socialist mayors in Milwaukee before 1960. But that was a different era, a different electorate, and a very different kind of socialism. Hong is asking Wisconsin voters to take a leap that even Bernie Sanders would not co-sign.
When a candidate is too far left for the man who honeymooned in the Soviet Union, the voters of a swing state might want to take the hint.
