French defends himself on radio as Paxton, Talarico trade attacks

The Longhorns had just beaten Ohio State on Saturday night when Bo French, the Republican nominee for Texas railroad commissioner, turned his attention from the scoreboard to the fans in the stands.

On Sunday, French posted a photograph showing nonwhite University of Texas supporters cheering for their team, accompanied by a caption that pivoted from football to graduation: “I heard UT graduation this year looked like this. I didn’t believe it. The problem is now obviously far worse than anyone imagined.”

The post drew swift condemnation from within French’s own party. Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican who lost his primary to Attorney General Ken Paxton earlier this year, wrote that French is “the Republican nominee for statewide office” and asked whether other Republicans would condemn the “intolerance and racism” or “look the other way while it becomes normalized.” Cornyn added: “This is how great political parties self-destruct. Sad.”

A number of other Texas Republicans joined Cornyn in criticizing French. French subsequently suggested that foreign-born students were flooding the flagship university — a claim that runs counter to a state law requiring 90 percent of UT freshmen to be Texas residents.

In a Monday radio interview reported by the Texas Tribune, French did not back down. “It’s no surprise that the less-conservative people in Texas are the ones attacking me,” he said.

The episode was quickly absorbed into the Texas Senate race. Paxton, now the Republican nominee, and Democratic nominee James Talarico both waded into the matter and used it to attack each other.

Meanwhile, French is fundraising off the controversy. He says he has been “inundated” with requests for yard signs.

The Wall Street Journal’s newsletter drew a parallel on the Democratic side, noting that Democrats have spent months distancing themselves from progressive streamer Hasan Piker, who once said the United States “deserved” the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. Piker later tried to distance himself from those comments. He has since campaigned with Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Michigan, and was present at El-Sayed’s primary night party.

Both parties are struggling to define what should be off limits.

Also in the newsletter

The edition also carried the following brief items.

Supreme Court. The high court blocked the Trump administration from imposing new requirements for mail ballots ahead of the midterm elections.

Mitch McConnell. The Kentucky senator returned to the Capitol after three months.

Donald Trump Jr. A Russian businessman financed wedding celebrations of the president’s son.

Trump’s Tuesday. The president is scheduled to hold two policy meetings and participate in an ambassador credentialing ceremony in the Oval Office Tuesday afternoon.

AI regulation. Trump pushed back on the need for tighter federal regulations on artificial intelligence and dismissed safety concerns as a hoax that would leave the industry in financial ruin and hand China a competitive edge. “The only control or ‘guardrails’ that AI needs is a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT, and the U.S.A. has that, in spades!” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Monday. Industry leaders are sounding increasingly urgent warnings about the need for regulation to guard against potential dangers from their own technology.

Saudi oil pipeline. The kingdom is racing to repair a critical oil pipeline shut down by drone attacks last week. The disruption threatens to remove another major source of crude from global markets. The East-West pipeline has become one of the world’s most important pieces of energy infrastructure during the Iran war, a workaround to sharply curtailed tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.

Mamdani lawsuit. Mayor Zohran Mamdani said a coalition of cities including New York filed a lawsuit challenging a new Trump administration rule regarding immigrants and public benefits. The rule — which takes effect Sept. 18 — would let the federal government more easily deny green cards and visas to immigrants based on their use of public benefits.