Commentary, Politics

When Even Bernie Sanders Won’t Touch You

Posted on by Bill McCarthy

Francesca Hong is the Democratic front-runner for governor of Wisconsin. She is a state assemblywoman, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, and a former restaurant worker turned legislator. Bernie Sanders, the country’s most famous democratic socialist, was asked if he would endorse her. His answer: “I don’t think so.” He called her “very, very nice” and said he is “just not that familiar” with the race. Sanders has endorsed far-left candidates in other contests this cycle. Drawing the line here is revealing.

The Record in Her Own Words

Hong’s past statements are not subtle. In 2020 she posted: “Cancel Thanksgiving. Should have done this in 1621.” She framed the holiday as a celebration of colonialism and a “superspreader event.” The post has been deleted, but the record remains. On policing she was equally direct. In 2020 she wrote that she supported “defunding the police as a first step towards abolishing the police.” In 2021 she declared: “Police exist to uphold white supremacy. Defund then abolish. Reform can’t be an option.” She has described prison abolition as an aspirational goal and has backed positions aligned with abolishing ICE.

Her campaign now softens the language. She says her views have “evolved,” that she does not support arbitrary cuts to public safety budgets, and that abolishing police is a long-term vision rather than an immediate policy. She insists she will not defund the police as governor. The earlier statements were not ambiguous, and she did not delete or renounce them until the scrutiny of a statewide race made them politically costly.

Hong has also embraced other DSA-adjacent priorities: publicly funded grocery stores, a state-owned bank, expansive race-based programs, and a general critique of capitalism and traditional American institutions. In interviews she has reaffirmed alignment with core progressive demands while trying to pivot to kitchen-table issues such as healthcare, paid leave, and education funding.

Mental Health History

In a 2023 interview Hong described a teenage mental breakdown that led to hospitalization in a child psychiatric facility. She said she did not walk at her high school graduation, experienced numbness and pain, self-harmed by cutting, was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, took SSRIs, and overdosed on lithium. She has said she is currently in treatment for depression and takes antidepressants. She frames the experience as a source of empathy and strength, and she advocates for expanded mental health resources.

Voters are entitled to know this history. Bipolar disorder and depression are serious, treatable conditions. Many people manage them successfully while holding demanding jobs. The question is whether a candidate for governor—who would control the state’s executive apparatus, National Guard, and emergency powers—has demonstrated sustained stability and judgment under pressure. Hong’s own account is public. The political judgment of her past radical statements is a separate issue that does not require amateur diagnosis.

Out of Step with Reality

Wisconsin is a swing state that Donald Trump carried. It has a Republican legislature. Its voters are not looking for a governor who once argued police exist primarily to uphold white supremacy or that Thanksgiving should be canceled. Even within the progressive lane, Sanders’ refusal to endorse signals that Hong’s brand of socialism tests the outer limits of what is electable outside deep-blue enclaves. Primary voters in Madison and Milwaukee may reward the rhetoric. A general electorate that includes rural counties, suburbs, and working-class Democrats is less forgiving.

Hong’s campaign is attempting the standard pivot: radical past as youthful idealism, current platform as practical affordability. The problem is the gap between the two. Calling for the abolition of core institutions of public safety and national holidays is not a minor policy disagreement. It reflects a worldview that treats American society as fundamentally illegitimate. That worldview has produced primary energy in some places. It has also produced general-election disasters. Sanders appears to understand the difference. Wisconsin voters will decide whether they do as well.

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