A severe intra-party backlash has erupted within the Texas Republican establishment after Bo French, the GOP candidate running for a seat on the Texas Railroad Commission, published a racially disparaging post targeting non-white college football spectators on social media. The incident has intensified concerns among high-profile conservatives that extremist rhetoric is damaging the party's electoral viability.
The controversy began shortly after the University of Texas Longhorns secured a fourth-quarter comeback victory over top-ranked Ohio State. French posted an image on X showcasing celebratory students clad in school colors. Because the individuals pictured in the image were non-Caucasian, French added a derogatory caption claiming that the demographic makeup of the university represented a deepening crisis, writing that he initially doubted reports regarding the campus's current composition but now considered the situation far worse than anticipated.
French’s remarks drew immediate and blistering pushback from senior Republican strategist Karl Rove, a former key adviser to President George W. Bush. Speaking at a private gathering in Austin, Rove denounced French directly as a bigot and announced that he could not endorse or support the candidate's campaign for statewide office.
In a dramatic break with his long-standing voting record, Rove declared that he plans to cast his ballot for Houston Democrat Jon Rosenthal, who is challenging French for the railroad commission seat. The public defection marks the end of a 32-year streak during which Rove had exclusively backed Republican candidates at the ballot box.
Data from Texas Global highlights the groundless nature of French's insinuations regarding the students pictured. Among the university's 55,000 enrolled students, fewer than 10 percent originate from overseas, illustrating that French had no evidentiary foundation to classify the Asian students depicted as foreign outsiders rather than native Texans.
The candidate's characterization of minority students as non-Texans swiftly attracted condemnation from other prominent figures in the state party. U.S. Senator John Cornyn publicly chastised French on X, warning that such messaging threatened to marginalize the party statewide and cautioning that failing to reject such bigotry against fellow Texans would inevitably reduce Republicans to a minority faction.
Cornyn’s critique comes amid an already volatile period within Texas GOP politics, following the veteran senator's defeat in the May primary election to state Attorney General Ken Paxton, who had secured the backing of Donald Trump despite facing long-standing scandals.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott also distanced himself from French’s remarks, telling Politico that the candidate’s framing ran contrary to his own political approach. Abbott emphasized that sporting celebrations by Longhorn fans should serve as a unifying moment for the state rather than an opportunity for division, noting that shared cultural institutions like college football reflect common Texan identity.
Calls for accountability emerged across the state legislature as well. Republican State Senator Lacey Hull took to social media to urge French to take down the post, describing the publication as heartbreaking and stating that the photograph merely depicted young Texans enthusiastically supporting their collegiate team.
University leadership also pushed back forcefully against the candidate's rhetoric. Kevin Eltife, the chairman of the University of Texas System Board of Regents, issued a formal statement affirming his pride in the university's diverse student body, noting that the scene depicted in the stadium was identical to the prideful gatherings seen at commencement ceremonies across campus.
Rather than offering an apology, French escalated the confrontation by attempting to monetize the controversy through subsequent fundraising appeals on X. During a broadcast appearance on Mark Davis's radio program, French rejected the criticism and dismissed his GOP detractors as being insufficiently conservative.
French defended his stance by framing the backlash as an extension of his contentious primary campaign. He asserted on the radio program that the Republican establishment had previously spent $7 million attempting to defeat him, alleging that the same establishment-aligned figures were now leading the public campaign against his social media commentary.
The controversy surrounding French is emblematic of a broader struggle within the party, as messaging previously confined to the fringes of the conservative movement increasingly appears in mainstream political races across the country.
Other Texas Republican contenders in the midterms have faced parallel controversies over inflammatory conduct. Congressional candidate Brandon Herrera, widely recognized for his online persona as "the AK guy" on YouTube, has previously faced intense criticism over vulgar and derogatory remarks directed at women in online video content.
Herrera had additionally drawn sharp condemnation from the Republican Jewish Coalition in 2024 after using an offensive analogy to describe a firearm from the Nazi era, leading the advocacy organization to label him an extremist.
As the general election approaches, the public rebuke of French by respected conservative leaders underscores growing tension between traditional party leadership and insurgent candidates whose divisive rhetoric threatens to splinter the Republican coalition.
(0)