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Karl Rove publicly confirmed he will be voting for a Democrat for the first time in over 30 years in an op-ed Wednesday, blasting Bo French, the Republican nominee for Texas Railroad Commissioner, and warning the GOP about a growing number of bigots in their ranks.
The controversy began after the No. 4 University of Texas at Austin Longhorns mounted a shocking come-from-behind win over the No. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes.
French shared a photo of the UT student section, showing the crowd jubilantly celebrating their win — not to join in their joy over the football team, but to voice a comment that was swiftly denounced as racist.
“I heard UT graduation this year looked like this,” he wrote, referring to the students who appeared to be of South Asian or Hispanic descent. “I didn’t believe it. The problem is now obviously far worse than anyone imagined.”
Several Texas media outlets spoke to some of the students in the photograph and reported that they are U.S. citizens, not surprising considering that UT’s highly competitive merit-based admissions process mandates that over 90% of each class comes from Texas.
French’s tweet went mega-viral — at the time of publication it had nearly 53 million views — and was loudly condemned across the political spectrum.
The Texas Tribune reported Monday that Rove had called French a “bigot” at a private lunch event in Austin and declared he would be voting for French’s Democratic opponent, Jon Rosenthal, citing three anonymous sources who attended the lunch.
President Donald Trump reacted with fury to the report about Rove’s intention to vote against a Republican candidate he had endorsed, calling him a “stone cold loser” in a Truth Social post.
On Wednesday, Rove confirmed that the Tribune’s sources were accurate, declaring his intention to vote for Rosenthal in an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal titled, “Why I’m Voting for a Texas Democrat.”
In the column, Rove bashed French’s post as “raw, uncut bigotry,” but then went further, presenting his case that the tweet was “part of a long and ugly pattern”:
This isn’t the first time Mr. French has made bigoted comments. When the wife of an Asian-American Democratic state representative posted on X a picture of herself and their children visiting him on the floor of the House chamber, Mr. French responded, “Families deported together stay together.”
Mr. French also has problems with non-Christians. In 2025, as Tarrant County Republican chairman, he posted a poll on X: “Who is a bigger threat to America” The choices were “Jews” or “Muslims.” Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick called for his “immediate resignation,” and the Republican mayor of Fort Worth, the county’s biggest city, lamented there are “too many examples” of Mr. French’s “bigotry and hate.”
The problem extends far beyond French, Rove argued, pointing out that some Republicans had defended his tweet, and a “growing number” had made their own bigoted comments:
The GOP has a growing number of Bo Frenches—and not only in Texas. 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.
These people are diminishing the Republican Party, not building it. I’ll have no part of it. This November, I’ll vote for only the second Democrat in my life. The first was Lt. Gov. Bob Bullock in 1994, because I thought he would work with Republicans. The second will be Mr. French’s opponent, Jon Rosenthal. The GOP’s stables need a cleaning. This is a good place to start.
Rove is not the first to voice concerns about the Texas GOP on this issue.
In 2023, notorious white supremacist Nick Fuentes was photographed taking an extended meeting at the offices of a PAC connected to two West Texas oil billionaires that have funded right-wing candidates across the state for years, including Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Then-Texas GOP Chair Matt Rinaldi was seen outside the building during Fuentes’ meeting. He denied meeting with Fuentes and criticized him, but he’s made controversial comments himself over the years. In 2017, Rinaldi bragged about calling ICE on protesters at the state capitol. Rinaldi is backing French and has posted tweets supporting him.
Conservative radio host Erick Erickson posted a lengthy Substack post Wednesday as well, decrying the “group of white guys” who are growing in influence in conservative and Christian institutions and “embrace white nationalism, antisemitism, and even Nazi sympathies.” In several paragraphs discussing French’s tweet, Erickson wrote that the students in the photo had “assimilated exactly the way the critics of immigration always demanded that immigrants assimilate,” but French still attacked them and now the candidate and his allies were aggressively going after any Republican who pushed back.
The post Karl Rove Says He’s Voting for a Democrat, Warns GOP Has ‘Increasing Number’ of Bigots first appeared on Mediaite.
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