Fact Check: Is Ted Cruz's claim Democrats want to abolish Thanksgiving and Christmas true?

WASHINGTON, DC: Senator Ted Cruz claimed that Democrats and progressive candidates want to abolish Thanksgiving and Christmas while supporting Sharia law in the United States. During a discussion about the Democratic Party and Michigan polls, Cruz said politicians such as Abdul El-Sayed and Zohran Mamdani were part of a "green-red convergence" of communists and Islamists. But are his claims true? Let's fact-check them.

Claim: Ted Cruz said Democrats want to cancel thanksgiving and Christmas

During an interview on Fox News, host Jesse Watters asked Ted Cruz, "Is that where the energy is? They want to cancel Thanksgiving?" Cruz responded by claiming that many Democratic candidates want to cancel both Thanksgiving and Christmas.

“They’re crazy enough, yes, they want to cancel Thanksgiving, they want to cancel Christmas. Look, these communists hate America. They hate capitalism. (Abdul) El-Sayed is also an Islamist, as is (Zohran) Mamdani,” Cruz told Watters. 

Cruz also added, “You see the green-red convergence, where the communists and the Islamists, they want sharia law, they hate Jews, they hate Christians, they hate capitalism, they hate America. All of this is coming together in a way that is really a toxic toxic strew.”

Following Cruz's interview, an X user claimed, "Ted Cruz lies that Democrats support getting rid of Thanksgiving and Christmas while implementing Sharia Law." Here's what the evidence shows.

Fact Check: The claim is false

Ted Cruz's claims about Democrats are false. There is no evidence that Abdul El-Sayed, a Michigan Senate candidate, or Zohran Mamdani, the New York City mayor, have called for abolishing Thanksgiving or Christmas.

El-Sayed has criticized Thanksgiving's historical connection to the treatment of Indigenous people. In a 2019 post, he linked the holiday to the "systematic annihilation" of Native Americans and called for reparations. However, he did not call for ending Thanksgiving.

Cruz's remarks appear to stem from comments made by Francesca Hong, a Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America. In 2020, Hong posted, "Cancel Thanksgiving. Should have done this in 1621..." while criticizing colonialism.

In a recent CNN interview, she did not repeat that call. Instead, she said, "Thanksgiving is also a time that’s incredibly painful for many people in our communities. And so I think there, I wanted to make sure that people understood that there are multiple views, but views can evolve."

There is also no evidence that the Democratic Party supports abolishing Thanksgiving or Christmas or replacing US laws with Sharia law. Cruz's claims about El-Sayed, Mamdani, and the Democratic Party are not supported by the available evidence.