Texas Railroad Commission candidate Bo French’s electoral chances plunged on one of the biggest betting markets in the U.S. after a social media post he shared was condemned as racist and sparked fury with Republican lawmakers. French, a Republican nominee who describes himself as a "MAGA conservative" on his campaign website, had shared a photo on his X account showing students of Asian descent celebrating the University of Texas' football win over Ohio State on Saturday. In an accompanying caption, he wrote: “I heard UT graduation this year looked like this.
The problem is now obviously far worse than anyone imagined.” The post, which has been viewed 27 million times, has been widely criticized by Republican lawmakers. Senator John 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.” Texas Governor Greg Abbott said in a statement given to Politico: “That is not my message. A selective picture of Longhorn fans celebrating our biggest home victory-ever-actually shows a way that Texans unite.
We all support our college football teams.” As of early Monday, French’s election chances on the prediction market Kalshi had dropped by 10 percent, down from 72 percent on Sunday morning. Newsweek has contacted the French campaign, the University of Texas and the White House outside of regular working hours for comment via email. This is a developing story.
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