John Cornyn

“Are other Republican elected officials going to condemn the intolerance and racism, or look the other way while it becomes normalized,” Cornyn said. “This is how great political parties self-destruct. Sad.”

Cornyn was responding to a post from French, the Republican nominee for Texas railroad commissioner, featuring a photo of a racially diverse group of Longhorns fans celebrating Saturday at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.

French wrote on X, “I heard UT graduation this year looked like this. I didn’t believe it. The problem is now obviously far worse than anyone imagined.”

In a subsequent post, French said the image showed “how many Americans have been displaced by foreigners.” The photo was taken from a video posted by the UT athletics department.

Cornyn’s rebuke put one of Texas’ most prominent Republicans publicly at odds with his party’s nominee less than two months before the election and challenged other GOP leaders to take a stand.

GOP House Speaker Dustin Burrows and Republican state Reps. Jeff Leach of Allen and Lacey Hull of Houston later joined Cornyn in criticizing French and urging him to delete the post.

French is seeking one of the three seats on the Railroad Commission, which regulates the oil and natural gas industry.

French, a former Tarrant County Republican Party chair, has repeatedly faced backlash from members of his own party for posts targeting racial and religious groups, LGBTQ people and people with disabilities.

“I wish I could say it was shocking but it’s not,” Rosenthal said. “This is true to form for Mr. French and it’s just disappointing.”

French did not return a call or text message seeking comment. In a later post Sunday, he called Cornyn an “America Last” loser and said state institutions had been “overrun by illegal aliens and foreign nationals.”

The campaigns for Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Both supported Wright in the primary but endorsed French after the runoff.

“Those that sit by and let this pass without comment are part of the problem,” said Rosenthal, a mechanical engineer with decades of experience in the oil and gas industry.

Rosenthal previously accused French of engaging in “sedition, treason, and racism” while failing to explain how he would oversee the state’s oil and gas industry.

French has said his focus on immigration, diversity programs and other cultural causes helped him win his party’s nomination, even though those issues fall outside the commission’s authority.

Patrick called on French to resign as Tarrant County GOP chair last year after he posted a poll asking whether Jews or Muslims posed a greater threat to America. French refused at the time, then resigned in November to run for railroad commissioner.