{"id":436439,"date":"2026-09-15T08:38:23","date_gmt":"2026-09-15T08:38:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/436439\/"},"modified":"2026-09-15T08:38:23","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T08:38:23","slug":"maga-infighting-flares-up-over-racist-posts-about-texas-ohio-state-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/436439\/","title":{"rendered":"MAGA infighting flares up over racist posts about Texas-Ohio State game"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Saturday&#8217;s college football game between Ohio State and Texas began, as usual, with the home fans <a data-ylk=\"slk:singing &quot;The Eyes of Texas,&quot;;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/www.texasmonthly.com\/arts-entertainment\/ut-austin-eyes-of-texas-song-racist\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">singing &#8220;The Eyes of Texas,&#8221;<\/a> a song introduced by white students at a minstrel show in 1903. And remarkably, things got more racist from there.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">After the Longhorns erased a 20-point deficit in the fourth quarter en route to a wild comeback win, the fans in Austin erupted with glee, as normal people tend to do when their team wins. Yet the scene had some prominent figures in the MAGA movement angrily typing and posting about images of nonwhite fans sharing in the joy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">This, to be clear, is an insane way for anyone to experience sports. And the abject racism that has been unleashed by these posts is fueling infighting among Republicans as they reckon with <a data-ylk=\"slk:the bigotry;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ms.now\/opinion\/mike-collins-staffer-georgia-kkk-nazi-preston-parra\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">the bigotry<\/a> festering <a data-ylk=\"slk:within their own party;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ms.now\/rachel-maddow-show\/maddowblog\/ohio-husted-political-director-fired-nazi-image-midterm-elections\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">within their own party<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Bo French, the Republican nominee for Texas railroad commissioner, set things off with several racist posts bemoaning nonwhite fans, and the idea of what he called <a data-ylk=\"slk:&quot;foreigners&quot;;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/bofrench\/status\/2099156866320285978?s=20\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">&#8220;foreigners&#8221;<\/a> on campus. These posts on X were <a data-ylk=\"slk:promoted;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/JackPosobiec\/status\/2099183642111025606?s=20\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">promoted<\/a> and <a data-ylk=\"slk:defended;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/contramordor\/status\/2099121024285413571?s=20\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">defended<\/a> by conservative <a data-ylk=\"slk:influencers;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Savsays\/status\/2099329271378366896?s=20\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">influencers<\/a> and <a data-ylk=\"slk:activists;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/CLGLZR\/status\/2099226713771094189?s=20\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">activists<\/a>, but they received pushback from some on the right as well, including a warning from Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;This is the Republican nominee for statewide office,&#8221; Cornyn <a data-ylk=\"slk:wrote about French;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/JohnCornyn\/status\/2099140515883073626\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">wrote about French<\/a>. &#8220;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.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">These comments from Cornyn \u2014 someone who previously comported himself <a data-ylk=\"slk:as a staunch ally;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/politics\/cornyn-went-to-great-lengths-to-avoid-trumps-wrath-the-texas-senator-lost-his-seat-anyway\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">as a staunch ally<\/a> of President Donald Trump&#8217;s <a data-ylk=\"slk:racist political movement;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ms.now\/opinion\/trump-white-people-very-badly-treated-civil-rights-act\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">racist political movement<\/a> \u2014 underscore <a data-ylk=\"slk:how extreme the crisis of racial bigotry has become;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/magazine\/2026\/08\/01\/heritage-foundation-young-republicans-groypers-hiring-01006937\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">how extreme the crisis of racial bigotry has become<\/a> within the Republican Party.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Some conservatives heeded Cornyn&#8217;s call to action. Unfortunately, Texas Senate candidate Ken Paxton wasn&#8217;t one of them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">James Talarico, Paxton&#8217;s Democratic opponent in the Senate race, <a data-ylk=\"slk:lauded Cornyn&#039;s post;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/jamestalarico\/status\/2099183831077015860?s=20\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">lauded Cornyn&#8217;s post<\/a> and called on Paxton to rebuke the blatant racism, but Paxton responded by <a data-ylk=\"slk:baselessly accusing;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/KenPaxtonTX\/status\/2099253987711005098?s=20\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">baselessly accusing<\/a> Talarico of racism against white people.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Texas Gov. Greg Abbott was similarly evasive <a data-ylk=\"slk:in comments to The Dallas Morning News;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/AaronTorres_\/status\/2099225898968842694\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">in comments to The Dallas Morning News<\/a>, saying French&#8217;s post &#8220;is not my message&#8221; \u2014 but not denouncing it \u2014 while touting his anti-immigrant bona fides.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">But some of the conservatives who did rebuke this racist rhetoric found themselves awash in bigoted bile from MAGA world.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Republican Lacey Hull, a Texas state lawmaker, is a prime example. She posted a rather tame rebuke of French, asking him to delete one of his posts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;Please delete this. This post breaks my heart. I see college kids cheering on their football team,&#8221; <a data-ylk=\"slk:she wrote;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/LaceyHullTx\/status\/2099166743386059060\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">she wrote<\/a>. &#8220;I see Texans.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Hull was pelted with all sorts of posts from conservatives, with some <a data-ylk=\"slk:framing her and other women;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/aidannonx\/status\/2099187082086256722?s=20\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">framing her and other women<\/a> as <a data-ylk=\"slk:impediments to the MAGA movement;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/CassandraRules\/status\/2099189527621312679?s=20\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">impediments to the MAGA movement<\/a> because they are capable of compassion.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">After the X account for the Fort Worth Young Republicans rebuked Hull&#8217;s post as &#8220;weepy moralizing&#8221; and &#8220;disgusting,&#8221; conservative commentator Erick Erickson \u2014 <a data-ylk=\"slk:who&#039;s no stranger to extremist rhetoric;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mediamatters.org\/coronavirus-covid-19\/erick-erickson-deletes-tweet-celebrating-asian-american-reporters-offense\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">who&#8217;s no stranger to extremist rhetoric<\/a> \u2014 issued a frank, seemingly obvious diagnosis.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;The racism is infecting lots of people,&#8221; <a data-ylk=\"slk:he wrote;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/EWErickson\/status\/2099260883952185723\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">he wrote<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Indeed it is, Erick. Indeed it is. And it&#8217;s remarkable to witness some of the people who have played a role in spreading bigotry seeming to recognize its dangers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The post <a data-ylk=\"slk:MAGA infighting flares up over racist posts about Texas-Ohio State game;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ms.now\/opinion\/texas-ohio-state-bo-french-post-paxton-talarico-abbott-maga\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">MAGA infighting flares up over racist posts about Texas-Ohio State game<\/a> appeared first on <a data-ylk=\"slk:MS NOW;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ms.now\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">MS NOW<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">This article was originally published on <a data-ylk=\"slk:ms.now;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ms.now\/opinion\/texas-ohio-state-bo-french-post-paxton-talarico-abbott-maga\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">ms.now<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Saturday&#8217;s college football game between Ohio State and Texas began, as usual, with the home fans singing &#8220;The&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":436440,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[3309,1967,10690,3129,68180,151232,27,29,28,41715],"class_list":["post-436439","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-john-cornyn","tag-ken-paxton","tag-maga","tag-ohio-state","tag-posts","tag-racist-rhetoric","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news","tag-texas-railroad-commissioner"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436439","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=436439"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436439\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/436440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=436439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=436439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=436439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}