A Sunday social media post by Bo French, the GOP nominee for Texas Railroad Commissioner, — targeting students of color celebrating at the University of Texas football game — prompted rebuke from U.S. Sen. John Cornyn who also urged other Republican leaders to speak out against the candidate’s racism.
The morning after the Texas Longhorns pulled off a major comeback to upset Ohio State, French shared a photo of South Asian students cheering in orange gears from the stands. The former Tarrant County GOP chair, who has called for the deportation of 100 million people which would include U.S. citizens, said the scene shows “how many Americans have been displaced by foreigners.”
“I heard UT graduation this year looked like this,” French said in a post with a photo of the students. “I didn’t believe it. The problem is now obviously far worse than anyone imagined.”
Cornyn, who lost his reelection primary bid in May, quickly blasted French’s comment and called on others to do the same.
“This is the Republican nominee for statewide office,” Cornyn said in his post. “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.”
State Rep. Jon Rosenthal, a Houston Democrat who is running against French, thanked the senator for speaking out.
“It’s truly unfortunate that so many elected ‘leaders’ will just silently let this pass,” Rosenthal added.
Meanwhile, Republican Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows as well as state Reps. Jeff Leach and Lacey Hull have called on French to delete his post.
“You can oppose immigration policy without demeaning people because of their race or ethnicity — this post has crossed the line,” Burrows said.
This was not the first time that an elected Texas Republican official has criticized French for his racist remarks.
Several state leaders including Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick called on him to resign from his role as the Tarrant County chair last year, after French published a social media poll asking whether Jews or Muslims were a bigger threat to America.
Patrick then endorsed French’s rival in the Republican primary for the Texas Railroad Commissioner race earlier this year. But the lieutenant governor reportedly changed his stance, after French won the primary runoff to be the GOP nominee.
Cornyn’s office did not immediately respond to The Texas Tribune’s questions, including whether he would back Rosenthal in the Texas Railroad Commissioner race.
Meanwhile, French doubled down in response to Cornyn’s criticism and called him a Republican in name only who has cheered for foreign nationals over American citizens.
“He and the other America Last losers are mad that Texas Republicans are starting to put America First,” he said in a post. His campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
The University of Texas at Austin didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
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