Bo French, the Republican nominee for the Texas Railroad Commission, has been condemned by senior figures in his own party after posting remarks about a racially diverse group of University of Texas supporters celebrating a football victory.
French shared a photograph of fans in the stands after Texas defeated Ohio State 24-23 on Saturday, writing on X: “I heard UT graduation this year looked like this. I didn’t believe it. The problem is now obviously far worse than anyone imagined.”
He later reposted the image with a further message claiming that social media was exposing how many Americans had been “displaced by foreigners”. The posts were widely criticised as racist and xenophobic.
John Cornyn condemns Bo French posts
US Senator John Cornyn, a fellow Republican from Texas, said the comments should not be normalised within the party.
“This is the Republican nominee for statewide office,” Cornyn wrote. “Are other Republican elected officials going to condemn the intolerance and racism, or look the other way while it becomes normalized. This is how great political parties self-destruct. Sad.”
French responded by accusing Cornyn and other Republicans of allowing Texas institutions to be “overrun by illegal aliens and foreign nationals”. He described his critics as “America Last” opponents and said the state’s Republican voters were beginning to put “America First”.
Other Texas Republicans, including state House Speaker Dustin Burrows and representatives Jeff Leach and Lacey Hull, also criticised the post and urged French to remove it.
Governor Greg Abbott did not directly condemn French’s comments. Instead, he said a photograph showing a diverse group of supporters illustrated how Texans could unite, while restating his views on immigration and foreign students.
French’s Democratic opponent, state representative Jon Rosenthal, said the Republican candidate had spent the morning judging students by their appearance rather than celebrating the team’s win.
“I spent 25 years as an engineer in the oil and gas industry,” Rosenthal said. “Bo French spent Sunday morning sorting our student section by skin color. Greg Abbott said Bo French would ‘wreck’ our oil and gas industry. A man who can’t tell a Longhorn from a foreigner has no business regulating anything in TX.”
The Texas Railroad Commission oversees the state’s oil and gas industry. French and Rosenthal are due to face each other in the general election on November 3, alongside Libertarian candidate Arthur DiBianca.
Rosenthal also referred to an earlier controversy involving French, who last year posted a poll asking whether Jews or Muslims posed the greater threat to America. Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick called for French to resign at the time; French apologised but declined to step down.
