Statewide GOP nominee Bo French sparks outrage after targeting UT football fans online
Texas Republican under fire for comments on UT students
The Republican candidate for Texas Railroad Commissioner is being criticized by both parties for social media posts about the race of University of Texas students shown during a recent Longhorns football game. FOX 4's Steven Dial has more.
AUSTIN, Texas - The Republican nominee for the Texas Railroad Commission is facing fierce backlash from within his own party after posting inflammatory remarks on social media about students celebrating a University of Texas football victory.
Online Backlash and Cornyn's Condemnation
Big picture view:
Bo French posted a photo on X showing a diverse group of students celebrating Texas' win over Ohio State, writing, "I heard UT graduation this year looked like this. I didn’t believe it. The problem is now obviously far worse than anyone imagined."
More than an hour later, French reposted the same photo, adding, "Like body-cams exposed criminals, social media is exposing how many Americans have been displaced by foreigners. It’s everywhere and far worse than any of us could imagine."
The posts immediately drew sharp denunciations, most notably from U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who posted on social media: "This is the Republican nominee for statewide office. 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 fired back at Cornyn, stating, "Our state’s institutions have been overrun by illegal aliens and foreign nationals because of RINOs like John Cornyn who have cheered for them over our own citizens. He and the other America Last losers are mad that Texas Republicans are starting to put America First."
On Monday, French appeared on the Mark Davis Show on 660am in Dallas to try and distinguish his policy beliefs from the students in the image.
"Again, I don't have anything against the people specifically in that picture, I was celebrating right there along with them. I think it's incredible what the University of Texas did against Ohio State. What a great game it was. But listen, I think the bigger conversation is are we going to have policies that prioritize Americans and the exceptionalism that Americans have or are we going to prioritize foreigners?" French said.
GOP Texas Candidate Bo French Faces Backlash Over UT Post
Texas GOP Railroad Commission nominee Bo French faces sharp criticism from Sen. John Cornyn and Democrats over social media posts targeting UT students celebrating a football win.
The other side:
French's Democratic opponent in the race, State Rep. Jon Rosenthal, released a statement blasting the nominee's actions.
"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."
"He is just using inflammatory rhetoric and hoping that will win him an election. It's not substantive for the railroad commission. This is for drilling and pipelines, so my message is there is a place in Texas for everybody," Rosenthal said on Monday.
Dig deeper:
Rosenthal's statement referenced a previous controversy from last year, when French posted a poll asking followers which group posed a bigger threat to America: Jews or Muslims. While Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick called for French's resignation at that time, French apologized but refused to step down.
What they're saying:
SMU political science professor Matthew Wilson says French's comments could affect his candidacy in the Railroad Commissioner race.
"The danger here is that French potentially puts himself into the Paxton category. That is someone lagging behind the last of the tickets because of personal controversy," Wilson tells FOX 4's Steven Dial.
"I think the other issue is that it puts Republicans like Greg Abbott in a bind because they want to distance themselves from these comments without openly calling out French and creating a feud within the party. So it's a tricky situation for the other Republicans running for statewide office."
The Source: Information in this article is from the X accounts of Bo French, Senator John Cornyn, Jon Rosenthal, statements from French and Rosenthal, and an interview with an SMU political science professor.