Karl Rove, a top administration official in then-President George W. Bush’s administration, said in a Wall Street Journal op-ed that he would vote for a Democrat in Texas for just the second time in his life.
Rove announced he would vote against Bo French, a GOP candidate for Texas railroad commissioner, an office that regulates the state’s oil and gas industry. Instead, Rove said he would support French’s opponent Jon Rosenthal, pointing to French’s racist post targeting students at the University of Texas and calling it “raw, uncut bigotry.”
French had posted a picture of nonwhite students celebrating the school’s football victory, writing, “The problem is now obviously far worse than anyone imagined.” Many of the students in the picture appeared to be of South Asian descent. The post went viral, and several Republicans condemned French and called on him to delete the post.
In the op-ed, Rove detailed other times French made “bigoted comments” and warned about the direction of the Republican Party.
“The GOP has a growing number of Bo Frenches—and not only in Texas,” Rove wrote. “Conservatism and the party it dominates have an increasing number of bigoted advocates of a ‘heritage America’ composed of white descendants of the original European settlers. There are ‘just asking questions’ Jew-haters, misogynists who worship hypermasculinity, conspiracy nuts seeking clicks for profit, and religious bigots who won’t differentiate between Muslim terrorists and Muslim American patriots.”
Rove continued, saying, “These people are diminishing the Republican Party, not building it,” adding that he would “have no part of it.”
“The GOP’s stables need a cleaning. This is a good place to start,” Rove said, referring to the railroad commissioner race.
Two students self-identified themselves to NBC News as being in the picture posted by French. One of the students expressed concerns over French potentially being elected into a position of power.
“Whenever a person in a position of power is saying this, it makes it seem like it’s OK to say,” the student, Rahul Kodali, said.
Texas’ U.S. senators, both Republicans, also condemned French’s post, with Sen. John Cornyn saying in a post to X, “We should all condemn this bigotry directed at our fellow Texans or we will soon find ourselves a minority party.”
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