Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, has announced he will not vote for Republican railroad commissioner candidate Bo French, citing the candidate's recent racist social media post. Cornyn described French as an "embarrassment to the Republican Party" and warned that his comments could negatively impact the entire Republican ticket.
French's remarks, targeting South Asian American students at the University of Texas at Austin, have drawn bipartisan criticism. In a post on X, French shared a photo of nonwhite students and wrote, "I heard UT graduation this year looked like this. I didn’t believe it. The problem is now obviously far worse than anyone imagined." He later doubled down, stating, "Like body-cams exposed criminals, social media is exposing how many Americans have been displaced by foreigners."
Cornyn, who has been more critical of fellow Republicans since losing his own primary, joins other GOP figures such as Karl Rove and former Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan in denouncing French. However, other Texas Republicans have offered more muted critiques, and few have urged French to withdraw from the race.
French has not apologized for his comments and has reportedly attempted to use the controversy for fundraising. Cornyn urged the party to reject xenophobic statements, writing on X, "This is the Republican nominee for statewide office. Are other Republican elected officials going to condemn the intolerance and racism, or look the other way while it becomes normalized. This is how great political parties self-destruct. Sad."