Tarrant County Republican Party Chair Bo French speaks during a rally, on Tuesday, April 15, 2025, in Mansfield.
Shafkat Anowar/Staff Photographer
U.S Senator John Cornyn on Sunday called for Republicans to denounce Bo French, the GOP candidate for the state Railroad Commission, for a post he made demeaning non-white University of Texas students.
In the post to X earlier in the day, French suggested that a picture of students of color cheering at yesterday’s Longhorns game in Austin was evidence that Texas “institutions have been overrun by illegal aliens and foreign nationals.”
“I heard UT graduation this year looked like this. I didn’t believe it. The problem is now obviously far worse than anyone imagined,” French wrote.
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Several Republicans, in addition to Cornyn, urged French to delete the tweet Sunday.
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. https://t.co/TO1dTXKd6G
— Senator John Cornyn (@JohnCornyn) September 13, 2026
Cornyn, whose 23-year-run in the Senate is coming to close after a primary loss to Attorney General Ken Paxton, said French’s opinions threatened the future of the GOP.
“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,” Cornyn wrote. Neither Cornyn nor French were available for comment by publish time.
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French, the former Tarrant County Republican chair, has faced criticism over past controversial comments, including calling for the deportation of 100 million Americans.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott admonished French in May, saying if elected he would “wreck” the oil and gas industry. French has built his campaign on anti-Islamic comments, vowing in the past to “stop the Islamic invasion of Texas” and “end DEI’s stranglehold on Texas oil.”
“You can oppose immigration policy without demeaning people because of their race or ethnicity — this post has crossed the line. Delete it,” Texas House Speaker Dustin Borrow wrote on X.
State Rep. Jon Rosenthal, the Democratic candidate for Railroad Commissioner, thanked Cornyn “for having the decency to call out this racist rhetoric.”
“It’s truly unfortunate that so many elected ‘leaders’ will just silently let this pass,” Rosenthal said on X.
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Republican Reps. Lacey Hull of Houston and Jeff Leach of Plano, both allies of Burrows, also called on French to remove the post. Hull called it “heartbreaking.”
“Please delete this,” Hull wrote on X. “This post breaks my heart. I see college kids cheering on their football teams. I see Texans.”
In response to Cornyn’s criticism, French dug in his heels, arguing that the state’s senior senator and “other RINOs (Republicans in Name Only)” have been anti-American by supporting non-white Texans.
“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,” French wrote.
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Texas Sate Rep. Andy Hopper, who won the Republican primary for Texas’ 64th Congressional District, backed French, calling Cornyn “a smug globalist.”
Previous reporting from Isaac Yu and Benjamin Wermund contributed to this report.