The Republican nominee for the Texas Railroad Commission is facing fierce backlash from within his own party after posting inflammatory remarks on social media about students celebrating a University of Texas football victory.

Big picture view: Bo French posted a photo on X showing a diverse group of students celebrating Texas' win over Ohio State, writing, "I heard UT graduation this year looked like this. I didn't believe it. The problem is now obviously far worse than anyone imagined." More than an hour later, French reposted the same photo, adding, "Like body-cams exposed criminals, social media is exposing how many Americans have been displaced by foreigners. It's everywhere and far worse than any of us could imagine." The posts immediately drew sharp denunciations, most notably from U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who posted on social media: "This is the Republican nominee for statewide office. Are other Republican elected officials going to condemn the intolerance and racism, or look the other way while it becomes normalized. This is how great political parties self-destruct. Sad." French fired back at Cornyn, stating, "Our state's institutions have been overrun by illegal aliens and foreign nationals because of RINOs like John Cornyn who have cheered for them over our own citizens. He and the other America Last losers are mad that Texas Republicans are starting to put America First." French's Democratic opponent in the race, State Rep. Jon Rosenthal, released a statement blasting the nominee's actions.

"I spent 25 years as an engineer in the oil and gas industry," Rosenthal said.