Key Takeaways
- Bo French, the Republican nominee for Texas Railroad Commissioner, posted a series of social media messages on Sunday, September 13, 2026, criticizing Asian American students photographed celebrating at a University of Texas football game.
- French, the former Tarrant County GOP chair, characterized the students as “foreigners” who illustrate how “many Americans have been displaced,” despite no information about their citizenship or immigration status.
- The posts prompted rare intra-party condemnation, including from Sen. John Cornyn, who called the comments racist and warned they risk normalizing intolerance within the GOP.
- French has not backed down, instead calling Cornyn a “RINO” in response, while other Republicans, including former state party chair Matt Rinaldi, have defended him.
- The episode is not French’s first controversy: Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick previously called for his resignation as county chair after French ran a poll asking whether Jews or Muslims posed a bigger threat to America.
A social media dispute involving a little-watched statewide race — Texas Railroad Commissioner, the body that regulates the state’s oil and gas industry — has become one of the more closely watched flashpoints of the 2026 Texas midterm cycle, exposing a real rift within the state’s Republican Party just weeks before Election Day.
What Bo French Posted
The controversy began the morning after the Texas Longhorns staged a major comeback victory over Ohio State. Bo French, the Republican nominee for Railroad Commissioner, shared a photograph of University of Texas students of South Asian descent cheering in the stands, framing the image as evidence of how “many Americans have been displaced by foreigners.” In a follow-up post featuring another photo of students, French wrote that he had heard a recent UT graduation “looked like this” and said he “didn’t believe it” until seeing it himself.
Commenters on French’s posts noted that he offered no information about the students’ citizenship or immigration status, and appeared to base his characterization solely on their apparent ethnicity.
The Republican Backlash
The posts triggered an unusually swift and public rebuke from within French’s own party. Sen. John Cornyn, who lost his own primary reelection bid to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton earlier this year, condemned the remarks directly, framing them as a test of the party’s willingness to police intolerance in its own ranks. State Rep. Jared Patterson also weighed in, calling the posts “racist” and “wrong,” and noting pointedly that the Railroad Commission’s actual mandate covers oil and gas regulation — not immigration policy.
Not every Republican official joined the criticism. Former Texas GOP chair Matt Rinaldi and state Rep. Andy Hopper instead defended French, largely by attacking Cornyn — Hopper reportedly dismissed Cornyn as out of touch with the party’s current direction. French himself declined to walk back the comments, instead accusing Cornyn and unnamed allies of prioritizing “foreign nationals over American citizens.”
Democrats Seize the Opening
Texas Democrats moved quickly to widen the story into a broader midterm attack line. State Rep. James Talarico, who is running for the US Senate seat, publicly pressed Attorney General Paxton — who has endorsed French’s campaign and called him a strong future commissioner — to state whether he condemns the remarks. Democratic Railroad Commissioner candidate Katherine Rosenthal separately challenged the Texas Oil & Gas Association PAC, which recently endorsed French, to clarify whether its own membership supports his comments, given that many of the industry’s future engineers are drawn from exactly the student population French targeted.
Not French’s First Controversy
This is not the first time French’s public statements have drawn Republican criticism. As Tarrant County GOP chair, he previously published a social media poll asking followers whether Jews or Muslims posed a greater threat to the United States — a post that prompted Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick to publicly call for his resignation from the county chair role. French has also previously called for the deportation of roughly 100 million people, a figure that would necessarily include US citizens, according to reporting on his public statements.
Why This Matters for the Midterms
| Factor | Detail |
|---|---|
| Office at stake | Texas Railroad Commissioner (oil & gas regulator) |
| Controversy trigger | Sept. 13, 2026 social media posts about UT students |
| Key GOP critics | Sen. John Cornyn, State Rep. Jared Patterson |
| Key GOP defenders | Matt Rinaldi, State Rep. Andy Hopper |
| Prior controversy | 2025 Jewish/Muslim “threat” poll; resignation call from Lt. Gov. Patrick |
| Industry backing | Endorsed by Texas Oil & Gas Association PAC |
Statewide down-ballot races like Railroad Commissioner rarely generate this level of national attention, but the episode has become a proxy battle over how the Texas GOP manages internal dissent heading into a midterm cycle where Republicans are already defending narrow congressional majorities nationally. Whether the criticism from figures like Cornyn translates into any meaningful erosion of French’s support — or whether, as with prior controversies, it simply fades by Election Day — remains an open question that Texas political observers are watching closely.
Frequently Asked Questions
What did Bo French post that caused the controversy? French, the Republican nominee for Texas Railroad Commissioner, posted photos of Asian American University of Texas students at a football game, describing them as “foreigners” and suggesting they illustrated Americans being “displaced,” without any information about their citizenship status.
How have Texas Republicans responded to Bo French’s comments?
The response has been split. Sen. John Cornyn and State Rep. Jared Patterson publicly condemned the posts as racist, while other Republicans, including former state party chair Matt Rinaldi, have defended French and criticized his critics instead.
Has Bo French faced controversy before this incident?
Yes. As Tarrant County GOP chair, French previously ran a social media poll asking whether Jews or Muslims posed a bigger threat to America, prompting Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick to call for his resignation from that post.
