One of Barack Obama's top political architects is publicly calling on Wisconsin Democrats to dump their socialist gubernatorial frontrunner, warning that Francesca Hong's record would hand Republicans a weapon in November.
David Axelrod, the strategist who built both of Obama's presidential campaigns, posted on X that it would be "good" for progressive Michigan Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed if Hong loses her Democratic primary bid next Tuesday, August 11. Axelrod called El-Sayed "a serious person" and dismissed Hong as "a font of zany liberal, faculty lounge exotica" whose nomination would let Republicans tie the two candidates together as ideological allies in the Midwest.
Hong fired back on the same platform, casting Axelrod as a disconnected Washington insider. The exchange, days before Wisconsin voters decide their Democratic nominee for governor, exposes a fault line that Democratic strategists have tried to paper over for years: the party's establishment knows its far-left candidates are electoral liabilities, but it rarely says so out loud.
Axelrod's post was blunt by the standards of Democratic intra-party debate. Fox News Digital reported his full remarks, which warned that Republicans "would surely try to link Abdul and Hong as philosophical kin", a pairing that could drag down El-Sayed's competitive Senate race in Michigan.
"He is a serious person. She is a font of zany liberal, faculty lounge exotica. But the [Republicans]... would surely try to link Abdul and Hong as philosophical kin."
That framing, one progressive who can win, another who cannot, is the kind of candid triage Democrats usually keep behind closed doors. Axelrod put it on a public platform, and the implication was clear: Hong's brand of socialism is a drag on the broader progressive project.
Hong did not take it quietly. She responded on X with a swipe at what she called "the consultant class."
"This tweet is a perfect example of why the consultant class keeps losing elections. They're totally clueless, and they're h***bent on keeping working-class people out of politics. I've spent more time in kitchens than faculty lounges. Perhaps you'd like to come to Wisconsin and work a Friday night dinner rush with me?"
The kitchen line was a reference to Hong's background before entering the Wisconsin State Assembly. But Axelrod's criticism had nothing to do with her biography. It was about her policy record, and the trail of social media posts that Republicans have already begun to surface.
Hong is a self-described democratic socialist backed by the Democratic Socialists of America. She spoke at the Wisconsin Democrats' 2026 convention in Madison on June 14 and held a campaign rally in Milwaukee on August 2 where Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., introduced her.
Her platform includes a $20 minimum wage, universal childcare, publicly run grocery stores, and the abolition of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Those positions alone would give any Republican opponent a well-stocked opposition file. But it is Hong's resurfaced social media posts that have drawn the sharpest scrutiny, and that likely prompted Axelrod's intervention.
Hong has previously called for defunding the police "because of their reinforcement of White supremacy." She called for abolishing the U.S. Senate after the chamber voted to acquit President Trump during a 2021 impeachment effort. And she has faced backlash over other resurfaced posts about race and identity that have complicated her general-election pitch.
Perhaps most memorably, Hong tweeted in 2020 that Americans should "Cancel Thanksgiving," calling it "celebrating colonialism" and "the original superspreader event that killed Indigenous folx and women." When the post resurfaced during this campaign cycle, her response shifted depending on the audience. On CNN, she offered an evasive answer, saying Thanksgiving is "incredibly painful for many people." In a later Politico interview, she reversed course entirely: "My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving... I don't want to cancel it. I actually love it."
The contradiction is the kind of thing Axelrod was warning about. A candidate who cannot give a straight answer about a national holiday is a candidate who will spend the general election explaining old tweets instead of making a case to swing voters.
Hong's evolution on policing fits a pattern that has played out across the Democratic Party since 2020. She previously posted that "police exist to uphold white supremacy" and supported defunding and ultimately abolishing police departments. Now, as the New York Post documented, she claims her views have "evolved" toward supporting public safety, a pivot that mirrors similar retreats by progressive figures nationwide.
That pattern is not unique to Hong. Other progressive officeholders have tried to wave away their "defund" records as the political winds shifted. The difference in Wisconsin is timing: Hong is attempting the rewrite days before a primary, not years after the slogan lost its appeal.
Hong told NOTUS last week that she is unapologetic about her broader ideology: "I'm a proud democratic socialist. I'm not advancing a brand. I'm focusing on the policies, the socialist policies that improve lives." That candor on the label sits uneasily next to the constant repositioning on specific policies, proud socialist on Monday, Thanksgiving-loving moderate on Tuesday.
Her denial of a past "Abolish the Senate" post, despite the post remaining publicly visible online, has only deepened questions about her credibility with voters who might otherwise be open to a populist economic message.
The Wisconsin primary was supposed to look different. Mandela Barnes, the state's former lieutenant governor, had been considered a frontrunner thanks to his proximity to outgoing Gov. Tony Evers and strong name recognition. Barnes dropped out last month for reasons that remain unclear from public reporting, and his departure reshuffled the field.
Hong emerged as the new frontrunner. Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley is the other major contender. Evers endorsed Crowley, citing his tenure as a public servant, a signal that the outgoing governor shares at least some of Axelrod's concern about the direction Hong would take the party.
Wisconsin is a genuine swing state. The November 3 general election will test whether Democrats can hold the governor's mansion, and the choice they make on August 11 will determine how much ground Republicans have to work with. A nominee who has called for abolishing ICE, defunding police, canceling Thanksgiving, and abolishing the Senate gives any Republican challenger a ready-made campaign.
Axelrod understands that math, which is why he said it publicly. The question is whether Wisconsin Democratic primary voters are listening, or whether the far-left insurgent energy that has reshaped Democratic primaries across the country will carry Hong to the nomination anyway.
Axelrod's willingness to name the problem is notable precisely because it is so rare. For years, Democratic leaders and strategists watched candidates run on abolishing federal agencies, defunding law enforcement, and dismantling institutions, and said little in public. The private grumbling never translated into public accountability. Critics have called out Democrats repeatedly for refusing to confront their own extremists, and the pattern has cost the party seats it should have won.
Now, with a critical Midwestern governor's race on the line and a Michigan Senate nominee who could be collateral damage, one of the party's most prominent voices has broken ranks. Axelrod did not couch his criticism in vague appeals to "electability." He named the candidate, named the problem, and named the consequence.
Hong's response, attacking the messenger and invoking her working-class credentials, is the standard playbook for progressive candidates who face internal pushback. It works in primaries, where the activist base rewards defiance. It does not work in November, when the electorate is broader, less ideological, and far less forgiving of candidates who cannot keep their story straight on whether they like Thanksgiving.
Wisconsin voters will decide on August 11 whether they want a nominee whose own party's strategists are publicly begging them to reject. If they choose Hong anyway, Republicans will not need to invent an attack line. She has already written them herself.
