He stood by it

Bo French, a Republican candidate for the Texas Railroad Commission, refused to walk back a Sunday post on X featuring a photo of South Asian students at a UT-Austin football game.

Blame the establishment

On the Mark Davis Show, French recast the criticism as a grudge, saying the same people who spent $7 million to beat him in the primary were the ones attacking him now.

“It's no surprise that the less-conservative people in Texas are the ones attacking me.”

His own party said racism

State Rep. Drew Darby, who chairs the House Energy Resources Committee overseeing the Railroad Commission, called it racism and told French to delete the post and apologize.

“This is racism, plain and simple.”

The America First pivot

French claimed UT-Austin and other institutions prioritize foreign students and workers, and said that has led to fraud. He offered no evidence for the fraud claim.

“I don't have anything against the people specifically in that picture.”

A father posts back

State Rep. Jeff Leach shared his own photo of his son and classmates at the game. A former DHS spokesperson told French to touch grass.

“Bo thinks it's a 'problem' they don't all look like and have the same skin color as Brady.”

Not his first time

As Tarrant County GOP chair a year ago, French ran a survey asking whether Jews or Muslims were the bigger threat to the US. Dan Patrick asked him to resign over it.

Democrats cash in

Opponent Jon Rosenthal, a career oil field engineer, says the remarks brought 500 new donors and $35,000 to his campaign in a single day.

“Bo French's own party has said he is unfit for the office he seeks to hold.”

Even the industry flinched

The Texas Oil and Gas Association had endorsed French days earlier. It then amplified House Speaker Dustin Burrows calling for the post to come down.

“You can oppose immigration policy without demeaning people because of their race or ethnicity.”