The Texas Republican candidate for public office who criticized university students for not being white has doubled down on his comments.
On Saturday, Bo French posted a photo of students at last weekend’s University of Texas football game with this comment: “I heard UT graduation this year looked like this. I didn’t believe it. The problem is now obviously far worse than anyone imagined.”
The photo shows students who are Hispanic and Southeast Asian and Black.
French is running to become Texas Railroad Commissioner, and he defeated the incumbent in this spring’s Republican primary. In Texas, the Railroad Commission has nothing to do with railroads but instead oversees the oil and gas industry.
The day after his first post, French posted the same image on X with this caption: “Like body-cams exposed criminals, social media is exposing how many Americans have been displaced by foreigners. It’s everywhere and far worse than any of us could imagine.”
And then Monday, French appeared on The Mark Davis Show, a conservative radio broadcast, and dismissed his Republican critics, which include current 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.”
One of those speaking against French is Karl Rove, former adviser to President George W. Bush and a staunch conservative. Rove spoke at a members-only lunch event at the Headliners Club in Austin, where he called French a “bigot,” according to KERA News and the Texas Tribune.
Rove said he would vote for French’s Democratic opponent, Jon Rosenthal — only the second time he’s ever voted for a Democrat. The other was former Texas Lt. Gov. Bob Bullock in 1994.
Soon after Rove’s comment, President Donald Trump castigated Rove as “bad” for Republicans: “He suffers from a major case of Trump Derangement Syndrome primarily because, for almost 10 years, I beat back and won against so many of the people and things that he wanted and espoused.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott also has not condemned French’s racist posts. Instead, he reshaped the photo French posted in a different light: “A selective picture of Longhorn fans celebrating our biggest home victory ever actually shows a way that Texans unite. We all support our college football teams. The way we win the state is the same way we win football games. We unite under the brand of Texas.”
Meanwhile, Brandon Herrera, Republican nominee for a key Texas congressional district, “has repeatedly made vulgar sexual statements and derogatory comments about the appearance and intelligence of women,” according to CNN.
He made the comments as a right-wing online personality known as “The AK Guy.”
Herrera is the Republican nominee in a congressional district where the incumbent GOP congressman resigned over sexual misconduct allegations and Herrera’s Democratic opponent is a woman.
“In the videos and other material reviewed by CNN, Herrera compared feminists’ weight to whales and nuclear bombs, joked that he was irresistible to ‘fat bitches’ after rubbing ranch dressing on his body, and described liberal women discussing guns as ‘both fat and wrong.’ He also lobbed sexually explicit insults at a gun safety advocate and her children,” CNN said.
The CNN report adds this context: “While he is framing the remarks as jokes, the commentary is raising questions about just how much misogyny Republican leadership is willing to stomach, as experts worry this kind of content could fuel political extremism.”
As with French, however, Trump has not withheld support for Herrera.
Trump promised voters on Truth Social of Herrera: “HE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!”
Herrera, in a statement to CNN, characterized his past comments about women as jokes.
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