While many Longhorns fans took to social media to celebrate a heart-racing win against Big 10 challenger Ohio State, Texas Republican nominee Bo French instead posted comments criticizing the demographic makeup of the University of Texas at Austin’s student body. Now several prominent members of his own party have publicly condemned his posts.
French, a GOP nominee for Texas Railroad Commissioner, posted a still from Saturday’s television broadcast that showed a group of Longhorns fans gathered in Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium as confetti rained from the sky. They were decked head-to-toe in burnt orange, hands in the air celebrating the team’s 24-23 win over No. 1-ranked Ohio State. Many of the students in the photo appeared to be nonwhite.
Beside the image, French wrote, “I heard UT graduation this year looked like this. I didn’t believe it. The problem is now obviously far worse than anyone imagined.”
The post quickly garnered criticism from other social media users, but French doubled down.
“Stop this!” wrote one person with the username @Ezinger44. “These are students who stayed overnight and all day in the heat for these seats. They are unified for their Longhorns.”
“I cheered the win for the team,” French responded in the thread. “It was a great game. But I weep for the families in Texas who can’t get into UT because they prioritize foreigners over Texans. Shame on you for ignoring that fact.”
Texas state law requires at least 90% of the UT Austin freshman class to be in-state residents. International students only made up 4.3% of the incoming class during the 2024-2025 school year, according to data compiled by Oriel Admissions. While the overall admission rate for the class of 2029 was 22%, the admission rate for out-of-state and international students was much lower at just 10%.
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn was one of the loudest GOP voices condemning French’s post.
“This is the Republican nominee for statewide office,” Cornyn wrote. “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.”
Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico applauded Cornyn for the statement, then asked his opponent in the Senate race, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, whether he would “condemn this blatant racism” or “cower to extremists.”
“I condemn racism in all its forms, including James Talarico saying white men are America’s top terror threat and that he prays to overcome his own ‘whiteness,’ whatever that means,” Paxton wrote in response. “Only one person in this race has a history of dividing Texans by race, and it’s James Talarico. I will continue to focus on uniting our State and bringing together the broadest possible coalition to fight for Texas, our values, and our families.”
Paxton has previously endorsed French’s campaign and said he will be “a great Railroad Commissioner.”
In a statement, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott didn’t endorse French’s comments and instead said the scene was reflective of team and state unity.
“A selective picture of Longhorn fans celebrating our biggest home victory-ever-actually shows a way that Texans unite. We all support our college football teams. The way we win the state is the same way we win football games. We unite under the brand of Texas,” Abbott said in a statement. “That doesn’t mean that Texas cannot also lead in having the toughest immigration laws of any state in America and freezing H1B visas at our universities.”
French was also called out by statewide Republicans, including House Speaker Dustin Burrows, who said the post “crossed the line” from opposing immigration policy to “demeaning people because of their race or ethnicity” and told French to delete it.
Meanwhile, former House Speaker Dade Phelan spoke even more strongly, calling French “unfit for office.”
State Rep. Drew Darby called on French to apologize and said he had “never seen conduct so unbecoming of a Railroad Commissioner or candidate in that time.”
Some members of the GOP came to French’s defense, including former Texas GOP chair Matt Rinaldi and state Rep. Andy Hopper. They attacked Cornyn, with Hopper pointing out his 28-point loss against Paxton in the May Senate primary race and calling him a “smug globalist.”
The Texas Democratic Party and its leaders, including state Rep. and gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa, condemned the post and called on Abbott to do the same.
This article originally published at Texas Republicans rebuke Bo French after UT Austin post: ‘Unfit to serve’.