Do you know how bad you have to be to get Karl Rove (KARL ROVE!) to vote for a Democrat?<\/p>\n
Just ask Republican Bo French.<\/p>\n
As the Texas Longhorns completed their epic comeback victory over the Ohio State Buckeyes this past Saturday, a fan taking video from the fan section panned around to show a sea of cheering fans<\/a> who went nuts, as anyone might expect.<\/p>\n What French did not expect, apparently, was to see a grouping of Texas fans, all donning burnt orange, who were not White.<\/p>\n The Republican nominee for Texas Railroad Commissioner, a position that regulates oil and gas production in the state, took a screenshot and posted it to X<\/a> with the caption, \u201cI heard UT graduation this year looked like this. I didn\u2019t believe it. The problem is now obviously far worse than anyone imagined.\u201d<\/p>\n The Republican\u2019s implication, which he later spelled out in a reply<\/a>, was that these students were \u201cforeigners\u201d who were stealing the opportunity from \u201cfamilies in Texas\u201d who would love to attend UT-Austin but can\u2019t because \u201cthey prioritize foreigners over Texans.\u201d<\/p>\n Not only is that not true<\/a>, but the blatant racist dogwhistle in a moment that was meant to unite Texas fans struck a nerve, including with some of the biggest Republican names in the state<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cA selective picture of Longhorn fans celebrating our biggest home victory \u2013 ever \u2013 actually shows a way that Texans unite,\u201d Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said in a statement.<\/p>\n \u201cThis breaks my heart,\u201d wrote Lacey Hull<\/a>, a Republican state representative who said the post should be deleted. \u201cI see college kids cheering on their football team. I see Texans.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis 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?\u201d said Republican Texas Senator John Cornyn<\/a>. \u201cThis is how great political parties self-destruct. Sad.\u201d<\/p>\n And then there\u2019s Rove, a former adviser to President George W. Bush and longtime Texas GOP political consultant. According to the Texas Tribune, Rove said he will vote for Democrat Jon Rosenthal<\/a>, who is running against French, telling an audience at the Headliners Club in Austin that French is a \u201cbigot.\u201d<\/p>\n Sadly for French, all of this is nothing new. Despite attempting to be elected to oversee the state\u2019s gas and oil industries, he\u2019s spent much of his time on the campaign trail messaging about culture wars<\/a>, immigration<\/a>, and non-Christians<\/a>.<\/p>\n The only major Republican who appears to still publicly support French and his racist worldview is President Donald Trump, who ripped Rove over his comments<\/a>.<\/p>\n