Bo French
Bo French posted a series of xenophobic social media posts taking aim at students of color celebrating at the University of Texas football game Bo French/Facebook

Bo French, the Republican nominee for Texas Railroad Commissioner, claimed the University of Texas is prioritising foreigners over Texans, even though the university's own figures show 80.5 per cent of its students are Texas residents.

International students accounted for 9.3 per cent of the student body in the 2025-26 academic year, according to the university's official enrolment data.

French made the comments on Sunday, a day after the Texas Longhorns staged a comeback win over Ohio State on 12 September. Sharing an image of students who appeared to be of South Asian descent celebrating in the stands, he wrote that the photo showed how many Americans have been displaced by foreigners.

He added that he had heard UT graduation this year looked like this and that the problem was now obviously far worse than anyone imagined. Critics pointed out that there was no evidence in the image establishing the students' citizenship or immigration status and questioned the basis for identifying them as foreign.

Pressed on the comments, he said he wept for Texas families supposedly shut out of UT because the university prioritises foreigners over Texans. That claim is difficult to reconcile with the university's own enrolment data for the 2025-26 academic year, which shows Texas residents made up 80.5 per cent of the student body.

Republicans Divided Over Backlash

The episode has highlighted an internal rift inside the Texas Republican Party over immigration rhetoric. US Senator John Cornyn, who lost his Republican primary to Attorney General Ken Paxton in May, said French's comments displayed intolerance and racism.

Cornyn warned that Republicans who stayed silent risked seeing a great political party self-destruct.

The intervention prompted a wave of criticism, with Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows saying French had crossed the line.

He argued politicians could oppose immigration policy without demeaning people because of their race or ethnicity.

Former Speaker Dade Phelan called French unfit for office, while State Representative Jared Patterson said Texans needed a Railroad Commissioner focused on regulating oil and gas rather than racial division.

French received support from some Republican allies. Former state party chair Matt Rinaldi and Representative Andy Hopper criticised Cornyn, with Hopper calling him a smug globalist beaten by 28 points in his primary.

French dismissed his critics as America Last losers. Governor Greg Abbott did not denounce French or call for the posts to be deleted, instead describing the image as a selective picture of Longhorn fans.

Earlier this year, Abbott ordered state agencies and public universities to freeze new H-1B visa applications. The dispute comes amid Republican scrutiny of legal immigration in Texas, particularly H-1B visas used by skilled foreign workers.

Immigration Fight Forms the Backdrop

Democrats have used the split to their advantage. Jon Rosenthal, French's Democratic opponent for Railroad Commissioner, thanked Cornyn for speaking out and said it was truly unfortunate that so many party leaders had stayed quiet.

State Representative James Talarico, who is challenging Paxton for the US Senate, called French's language blatant racism. He pressed Paxton, who appeared at French's campaign kickoff earlier this year, to respond, though Paxton had not commented by the time of publication.

The University of Texas at Austin declined to comment.

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