Bo French Calls UT Football Fans Foreigners in Post

Dhairya Gupta appears in the bottom right of the frame in a burnt orange T-shirt, his right arm extended in the Hook 'em Horns sign. Around him, other University of Texas students pack the shot, celebrating a touchdown scored in the final minute against Ohio State. The image is a screenshot from a 17-second vertical video that Texas Athletics posted to its official accounts on Saturday evening, September 12, 2026, after the Longhorns won at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin.

By Sunday, that still sat inside a post by Bo French on X. “I heard UT graduation this year looked like this,” French wrote. “I didn’t believe it. The problem is now obviously far worse than anyone imagined.”

French is the Republican nominee for Texas Railroad Commissioner, the agency that regulates the state’s oil and gas industry. He secured the nomination by narrowly defeating incumbent Jim Wright in a runoff after the March 2026 primary, where French received 31.75 percent to Wright’s 32.1 percent. In further posts he wrote that Americans are being displaced by foreigners. He referred to the students in the picture as foreigners. He said the university was filled with foreign nationals and leftists and argued that the school has prioritized foreign students and workers. He wrote that he wept for Texas families who cannot get into UT because the university prioritizes foreigners over Texans.

Replies spread quickly. Comments included “Bollywood University,” “I didn’t know the stadium was in India,” and “The America we grew up in no longer exists.” On Monday, French defended the posts on a conservative radio talk show and did not retract them. He said voters he talks to want institutions returned to serving the interests of citizens.

Gupta, a senior at the university and one of the students visible in the frame, said he is used to racist remarks online but found it another matter to see them from a candidate for statewide office. “When I look at that picture, I don’t see a problem,” he told the Texas Tribune. He told the Dallas Morning News he is a naturalized citizen. The citizenship status of everyone else in the photo is not known.

Students in that part of the section said the grouping happened partly by chance. Like everyone else heading for the student seats, they had waited many hours in line in the heat before the Ohio State game and then run for the closest spots to the field when the gates opened. “If you were at the game, you know that picture is taken extremely out of context,” Moyeen said. She called it unprofessional for someone in public office to lift the image and bend it to fit an agenda about race.