AUSTIN, Texas — A social media post from Saturday’s University of Texas football game has sparked a political firestorm in Texas, drawing condemnation from top Republicans and Democrats and rippling into the state’s U.S. Senate race.
Bo French, the Republican nominee for Texas Railroad Commissioner, posted a photo from the game and wrote that he had heard UT graduation “looked like this,” adding that the problem was “far worse than anyone imagined.” In another post, French wrote that Americans are being “displaced by foreigners.”
Elected officials from both parties quickly criticized French’s comments. U.S. Sen. John Cornyn called them “intolerance and racism.”
“This is how great political parties self-destruct,” Cornyn said. “Sad.”
Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows told French to delete the post.
“You can oppose immigration policy without demeaning people because of their race or ethnicity,” Burrows said. “This post has crossed the line.”
Republican state Rep. Jared Patterson called it racist and wrong.
“There is absolutely nothing Christian or conservative about looking at a crowd of young Texans at a college football game, seeing the color of their skin, and declaring that they are a ‘problem,'” Patterson said. “These are 20-year-old kids cheering for their university—not political props and not targets for racial attacks.”
Democratic Austin-area state Rep. Vikki Goodwin also condemned the post, writing, “We condemn racism, and racist posts like this one from Bo French.”
The controversy also became an issue in the U.S. Senate race. Democratic nominee James Talarico called on Republican Ken Paxton to condemn French’s comments.
“Racism has no place in Texas,” Talarico said.
Paxton later wrote, “I condemn racism in all its forms,” but did not mention French by name and instead criticized Talarico.
UT enrollment figures from last school year (2025-2026) show 80.5% of students were Texas residents, 10.2% came from other U.S. states and 9.3% were international students.
After the backlash, French did not back down. He responded that UT is filled with “foreign nationals and leftists.” He also said, “John Cornyn says we should accept decline. The voters I talk to want to return our institutions to serving the interests of citizens.”
CBS Austin reached out to French’s campaign for comment. We are waiting to hear back.