Commentators on all sides of politics took a victory lap after left-wing candidate Francesca Hong was narrowly defeated in her closely watched Democratic primary, with one Democrat even taunting her over her Thanksgiving gaffe.
Hong, a state lawmaker from Madison and a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), was defeated by Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, who topped her by a razor-thin margin after polling showed her as the seeming favorite.
She drew brief, intense national scrutiny amid the rise of far-left candidates and democratic socialists across the country, particularly for her past rhetoric about culture-war issues like wanting to "cancel" Thanksgiving and having to back off calls to abolish the U.S. Senate and the police.
After her narrow defeat, Rep. Tom Suozzi., D-N.Y., joked in a statement he sent to CNN, "Let’s just say it’s a day of Thanksgiving."
DEMOCRAT ESTABLISHMENT STRIKES BACK AS SOCIALIST CANDIDATE DOWNED IN BATTLEGROUND PRIMARY
Democratic strategist Anna Greenberg told CNN that Hong "was a bad candidate without national support," warning, "Candidate quality matters!!"
Other political figures blasted Hong’s loss as well, arguing her candidacy and defeat was part of a larger phenomenon.
"Some commentators thought she might not have lost if she hadn't granted interviews to national media outlets at the end, where she had to explain hating Thanksgiving. But if a few minutes of interviews sinks your entire campaign, how talented were you?" the Media Research Center's Tim Graham told Fox News Digital. "The broadcast networks have been extremely slow to notice the DSA candidates in all of these states. They ignored Graham Platner and his Nazi tattoo for months on end. They ignored Hong until about a week before the primary."
"It feels like she treated these national interviews as a step toward the general election, not a reason to get fired in the primary," he added. "It's always funny that the definition of a 'moderate' Democrat is anyone who can celebrate Thanksgiving and deplore 9/11."
SOCIALIST FRONTRUNNER IN THE HOT SEAT AFTER 'CANCEL THANKSGIVING' POST EMERGES ONLINE
Former Trump official Theo Wold argued the fact Hong came close to victory at all is a dire warning for Republicans.
"Any Republican who thinks the DSA wave has crested or that DSA candidates can’t win outside of urban areas isn’t paying attention. The correct way to understand last night’s results is that a radical Leftist, with policy views more akin to Trotsky than Jimmy Carter, nearly prevailed in one of the nation’s most closely watched swing states," he told Fox News Digital. "Hong’s radical views, like those of AOC or Ilhan Omar, are persuasive to a large number of voters, especially naturalized foreign nationals. What Hong lacked was nearly any support from working-class Americans."
"The pattern is always the same. DSA candidates run on a platform that they say is for the working class, and then get firmly rejected by actual working-class voters. Because it turns out, socialism is a luxury belief for wealthy, college-educated liberals that people who work with their hands can't afford," he added. "The working-class communities I grew up in just want to work a good job and live a good life. They don't want a politician telling them we need to cancel Thanksgiving or that a Master’s Degree means an expert can organize other people’s lives better."
CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTURE
Fox News Digital contacted Hong's campaign for comment.
Hong conceded the race to Crowley this week and pledged to support him as he faces Republican Tom Tiffany in the general election. Republicans are trying to win their first governor's race in Wisconsin since 2014.
