Defiant GOP nominee scoffs as party decries his remark as 'plain and simple racism'

ODESSA — Texas Railroad Commissioner candidate Bo French stood by racist remarks he made Sunday on social media that included a photo of South Asian students celebrating a football game at the University of Texas at Austin, arguing the university promotes discriminatory enrollment practices that favor students of color.

Speaking Monday morning on the Mark Davis Show, a mainstay conservative radio broadcast, French dismissed the backlash he garnered over his post on X from Texas Republicans, including outgoing U.S. Sen. John Cornyn.

“The establishment raised and spent $7 million against me in the primary,” French said. “Many of the people who criticized me yesterday were some of the same people involved in that effort. It’s no surprise that the less-conservative people in Texas are the ones attacking me.”

French drew swift condemnation from his party after sharing a post on X of the highly anticipated Texas Longhorns match against Ohio State. The comments drew wide condemnation from several high-profile Republicans who asked him to remove the post.

“This is racism, plain and simple,” wrote state Rep. Drew Darby, R-San Angelo, who holds great sway in the Texas Legislature as chair of the House Energy Resources Committee. “I have served on the Energy Resources Committee, which has jurisdiction over the Railroad Commission, for most of my tenure in the Texas House, and I have never seen conduct so unbecoming of a Railroad Commissioner or candidate in that time.”

“The right thing to do is immediately delete this and issue an apology.”

The Railroad Commission is a three-member body that regulates the state’s oil and gas industry.

But French, who has scarcely debated the issues the Railroad Commission regulates since launching his campaign last November, vigorously defended his remarks. He said UT-Austin and other institutions have prioritized foreign students and workers, which, without evidence, said has resulted in fraud.

“I don’t have anything against the people specifically in that picture,” he told Davis. “I think that the bigger conversation is, are we going to have policies to prioritize Americans … or are we going to have policies that prioritize foreigners? And I think most people in the America First movement think we ought to be prioritizing Americans.”

Many in his party disagreed. State and national Republicans criticized French for sharing a photo of the college students. State Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Plano, countered French with a photo of his own of his son and his classmates at the game.

“Bo thinks it’s a ‘problem’ they don’t all look like and have the same skin color as Brady. I think that’s racist — and it makes me sick,” he said.

“This is gross. Touch grass,” wrote Tricia McLaughlin, a former spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security who defended President Donald Trump’s deployment of federal immigration officers across American cities.

This is not the first instance that French has been scrutinized — or reprimanded — by his party for his provocative online commentary. A year ago, when he served as chair of the Tarrant County Republican Party, he published a survey asking if Jews or Muslims were a bigger threat to the U.S., prompting Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick to ask French to resign from his post. Gov. Greg Abbott, speaking privately to donors, said French would “wreck” the oil and gas industry.

French, who regularly debates issues involving the LGBTQ+ community and immigration policy, faces career oil field engineer Jon Rosenthal, a Houston Democrat, after defeating incumbent Railroad Commissioner Jim Wright in the primary election.

Rosenthal on Monday told the Texas Tribune that French’s remarks led to a fundraising boost for his campaign that added 500 new donors who contributed $35,000.

“Republicans, Democrats and Independents are uniting behind our campaign because they know the economic engine of the Texas miracle needs steady leadership at the helm — and Bo French’s racist outbursts jeopardize the credibility of the agency he seeks to run,” Rosenthal said in a statement. “Bo French’s own party has said he is unfit for the office he seeks to hold — and Texans are putting their money behind the oil field engineer who is qualified for it.”

The Texas Oil and Gas Association, whose political arm endorsed French last week, on Monday shared a post by House Speaker Dustin Burrows in which he said, “You can oppose immigration policy without demeaning people because of their race or ethnicity — this post has crossed the line,” and calling on the post to be deleted.

“We agree with Speaker Burrows,” the association wrote.

This is a developing story.

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This article first appeared on The Texas Tribune.