Texas Railroad Commission Candidate Faces Backlash Over Racist Social Media Post

Bo French, a candidate for the Texas Railroad Commission, is facing significant backlash from his own party after posting a controversial social media post. The post has severely impacted his electoral prospects on one of the largest betting markets in the U.S.

French, a Republican nominee who labels himself as a ‘MAGA conservative’ on his campaign site, shared a photo on his X account depicting Asian students celebrating the University of Texas’ football team’s victory against Ohio State. The caption he included sparked outrage: ‘I heard UT graduation this year looked like this. I didn’t believe it. The problem is now obviously far worse than anyone imagined.’

Viewed over 27 million times, French’s post has drawn sharp criticism from Republican lawmakers. Senator John Cornyn challenged fellow Republicans on X: ‘Are other Republican elected officials going to condemn the intolerance and racism, or look the other way while it becomes normalized.’

Governor Greg Abbott, in a statement to Politico, distanced his message from French’s post: ‘That is not my message. A selective picture of Longhorn fans celebrating our biggest home victory-a celebration that actually shows the unity among Texans. We all support our college football teams.’

The impact on French’s election chances was swift, with his standing on the prediction market Kalshi dropping by 10 percent as of early Monday, compared to 72 percent on Sunday morning.

Newsweek has reached out to the French campaign, University of Texas, and the White House for comment outside regular working hours.

Further updates on this developing story will follow.