‘Intolerance and racism’: US senator slams Texas Republican nominee over post targeting Asian students
US Senator John Cornyn has publicly rebuked his fellow Republican Bo French over a social media post targeting students of color celebrating at a University of Texas football game, accusing the GOP nominee for Texas railroad commissioner of promoting “intolerance and racism”.The morning after the Texas Longhorns pulled off a major comeback to upset Ohio State, French shared a photo of South Asian students wearing orange and cheering from the stands. French, the former Tarrant County GOP chair, claimed the scene showed “how many Americans have been displaced by foreigners”.“I heard UT graduation this year looked like this. I didn’t believe it. The problem is now obviously far worse than anyone imagined,” French wrote alongside the image.
Cornyn urges GOP leaders to speak out
Cornyn, who lost his Republican primary bid earlier this year, quickly called out French and challenged other Republican officials to condemn the post.“This is the Republican nominee for statewide office,” Cornyn wrote on X. “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.”His comments were backed by Democratic state Rep Jon Rosenthal, who is running against French in the November election.“It’s truly unfortunate that so many elected ‘leaders’ will just silently let this pass,” Rosenthal said.Several Texas Republicans also called on French to delete the post. Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows said political disagreements over immigration policy should not be used to demean people because of their race or ethnicity.“You can oppose immigration policy without demeaning people because of their race or ethnicity — this post has crossed the line,” Burrows said.State Reps Jeff Leach and Lacey Hull also joined calls for French to remove the post.
French hits back at Cornyn
French, however, doubled down and attacked Cornyn, calling him a “Republican in name only” and accusing him of siding with foreign nationals over Americans.“He and the other America Last losers are mad that Texas Republicans are starting to put America First,” French said in a subsequent post.The controversy comes after a series of clashes between French and Texas Republican leaders over his remarks on immigration and other issues.Several Texas Republican leaders, including Lt Gov Dan Patrick, had previously called for French to step down as Tarrant County Republican chair after he posted a poll asking whether Jews or Muslims posed a bigger threat to America.Patrick had also backed French’s rival in the Republican primary for railroad commissioner, but his position reportedly changed after French won the runoff.Cornyn has become increasingly critical of his own party since losing the Republican primary to Ken Paxton in May. He has also criticised Paxton and said he does not plan to campaign for him in the general election.The senator has also challenged President Donald Trump on several issues, including Trump’s proposal for $5,000 payments to US adults, saying the president would need congressional approval to send out the money.
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