Republican nominee for Texas Railroad Commissioner Bo French sparked fresh controversy this weekend with racist social media posts, prompting swift condemnations from prominent party figures including Texas Sen. John Cornyn.
French shared an image of brown-skinned students at a University of Texas football game and asserted that the "replacement of Americans by foreigners is everywhere and far worse than any of us could imagine." He further suggested that those responsible "hate white Americans."
On Monday, French dismissed the backlash as an attack from "the establishment" during an appearance on "the Mark Davis Show," according to the Texas Tribune. "It's no surprise that the less-conservative people in Texas are the ones attacking me," he said.
This is not French's first encounter with such controversy. After securing the Republican nomination for Railroad Commissioner in May, French posted a social media poll in June 2025 while serving as a local county GOP chairman asking whether Jews or Muslims posed a greater threat to America. He later deleted the post and apologized.
Sen. John Cornyn publicly challenged his party's response to French's posts on X, asking: "Are other Republican elected officials going to condemn the intolerance and racism, or look the other way while it becomes normalized?" He concluded with a warning: "This is how great political parties self-destruct. Sad."
The pattern extends beyond French. Ohio Sen. Jon Husted's campaign recently dismissed a top staffer who had previously used a photo of a Nazi SS soldier as a Facebook profile picture. In early 2025, Trump's State Department hired a former White House aide who had been fired during Trump's first term after appearing at a conference alongside white nationalists. In May 2025, Florida Rep. Randy Fine publicly called Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib a "Muslim terrorist" on X.
Some Republican lawmakers in Texas are reportedly struggling to issue carefully worded statements on French's comments. Democrats have condemned French's posts and argued that Republican responses have not gone far enough, particularly as the state has navigated past episodes of Islamophobia.
These incidents reflect a recurring problem that the party has struggled to address, partly because some xenophobia originates directly from the White House. President Donald Trump has often encouraged such sentiments, notably through his comments about Muslims and his campaign's false claims about Haitian immigrants during the 2024 campaign.
