Bo French faces backlash over post targeting South Asian UT students

Bo French's post about South Asian students celebrating a University of Texas win drew swift condemnation. The backlash exposed bipartisan concern over racism and growing tensions around immigration politics.

In Short

• French shared students' celebration photo and called Americans displaced by foreigners
• Cornyn warned party silence on intolerance could normalise racism in Texas
• Texas House Republicans urged him to delete the post immediately

A social media post by Republican politician Bo French about South Asian students celebrating a Texas football win has triggered a strong backlash in the US, with several members of his own party and Democrats calling the remarks racist.

French, the Republican nominee for Texas Railroad Commissioner, shared a photo of students of South Asian descent cheering the University of Texas Longhorns' win and said it showed "how many Americans have been displaced by foreigners". In another post with the same photo, he 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."

Senator John Cornyn condemned the post and urged other Republicans to speak out. "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 normalised? This is how great political parties self-destruct. Sad," said Cornyn, a Republican, a four-term Senator, and co-chair of the US Senate India Caucus. Cornyn lost the Senate primary this year to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

James Talarico, the Democratic candidate in the Senate election against Paxton, backed Cornyn's criticism. "Thank you @JohnCornyn for your leadership. Racism has no place in Texas. @KenPaxtonTX: Will you condemn this blatant racism, or will you cower to extremists?" he asked.

Several Republican members of the Texas House also criticised French and asked him to remove the post. State representative Lacey Hull wrote on X: "Please delete this. This post breaks my heart. I see college kids cheering on their football team. I see Texans." State representative Jared Patterson called the post "racist" and said it demeaned students because of their race or ethnicity.

Texas is home to an estimated 1.9 million Asian Americans, including more than 450,000 Indian-Americans. The state's rising immigrant population has become an election issue, particularly among Republicans. French had earlier called for the deportation of 100 million immigrants.

Several Indian-American advocacy groups also criticised French's remarks and asked elected leaders to condemn them. The Hindu American Foundation said on X: "With anti-Indian & anti-Hindu hatred at an all-time high, our elected leaders must condemn this rhetoric and eradicate this cancer from our political discourse." Democratic Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi described the post as "xenophobic" and said: "Bo French's xenophobic hate toward South Asian students is disgraceful and part of a broader rise in attacks targeting South Asian Americans across the country." He added, "These young people were cheering for their university, and he chose to demonize them based solely on how they look. South Asian Americans are as American as anyone, and this kind of hatred has no place in our politics or our country."

The Indian American Advocacy Council also issued a sharp response. "The Indian American Advocacy Council unequivocally condemns Bo French's disgusting racist attack on brown students at the University of Texas," it said in a post on X. "He looked at a photograph of brown students cheering for their university and immediately decided they were 'foreigners'. That is racism," the group said.

French also received support from some Republicans who attacked Cornyn for criticising him. Former Texas GOP chair Matt Rinaldi accused Cornyn and other Republicans of mortgaging "our children's future for government handouts and cheap labour". The controversy, sparked by a photo of South Asian students celebrating a university football victory, has now drawn condemnation from across party lines as well as from Indian-American groups, even as a section of Republicans has rallied behind French.

With PTI Inputs

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