Bo French, a Republican candidate for the Texas railroad commission, drew criticism from within his own party after posting on X a photograph of University of Texas students celebrating a college football victory. French’s post, which featured students of Asian descent, included text suggesting they were foreigners and questioning the state of the university. French could not have determined the students’ nationality from the image, and the university reports that fewer than 10% of its 55,000 students are international.
The post sparked condemnation from prominent Republicans. Karl Rove, a longtime political adviser to former president George W. Bush and influential Republican consultant in Texas, stated he was so opposed to the comments that he announced plans to vote for French’s Democratic opponent, Jon Rosenthal, marking a departure from his 32-year record of supporting Republican candidates. Texas Senator John Cornyn issued a public statement calling the post bigotry and warning the party risks becoming a minority if such messaging goes unchallenged. Governor Greg Abbott also distanced himself from French’s framing, emphasizing that Texans unite around their college teams regardless of background.
Other Republicans, including state senator Lacey Hull and Kevin Eltife, chair of the university’s board of regents, expressed disapproval through public statements. French responded to the criticism by characterizing his Republican detractors as insufficiently conservative and pointing to spending against him during the primary election.
The episode reflects broader scrutiny of Republican candidates nationwide facing criticism over extremist or offensive messaging. Other Republican candidates in midterm races have separately drawn attention for controversial statements or associations, including a House candidate in Texas criticized for offensive sexual comments, a New York state senator who faced backlash over a Facebook tribute to a relative who served in Nazi military forces, and a Florida House candidate linked to white supremacist groups and the 2017 Charlottesville rally.
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