By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
Bo French, Tarrant County Republican Party Chair, has been both condemned and defended by his colleagues.
The GOP leader in the nation's most populous Republican county will not face consequences for his repeated use of slurs, as his party seems to have no problem with his language.
Bo French, chair of the Republican Party in Tarrant County, Texas, has made several foul comments in the months leading up to the election. He last month called one Democratic advertisement featuring men voters "the gayest ad in history," writing on Twitter/X: “Guarantee every one of these ‘dudes’ is a homo. There is literally nothing manly about any of them.”
The conservative also around the same time used a slur for people with developmental disabilities against former Republican U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, responding to her remarks at a Harris campaign rally in Wisconsin with: "Never go full retard."
In a poll posted for his followers, French asked if those who "believe Harris’ policies are better for Americans than Trumps’ policies" are “Ignorant,” “A liar,” “Retarded,” or “Gay.” He most recently wrote under a video from the recent World Series: “Retard strength."
In response to a post from Harris telling voters to "trust women" to make their own decisions about their health care, French wrote: "There are just some things where you can't trust women TBH."
French has previously said that he aims to “make Tarrant County inhospitable for Democrats," who he has also accused of trying to “rid the earth of the white race.” He came under fire in August after trying and failing to pressure local Republican election officials to close college polling locations, explicitly stating that it was because young voters historically have "voted with Democrats."
The response from Texas Republicans to French's hateful and false comments has been mixed — Tarrant County Precinct Chair Sheena Rodriguez wrote an email to other party leaders, viewed by the Texas Tribune, demanding French apologize for his “outright vile and dehumanizing” language and resign, but only after the elections.
“Mr. French’s counterproductive and outright destructive rhetoric is detrimental to the Tarrant County GOP,” Rodriguez wrote. ”Conservative members, supporters and constituents of the Tarrant County GOP deserve a new, humble, respectful, and productive leader — one who is capable of being a decent human being.”
Rodriguez's message did not go over well with other Republicans, who accused her of sowing division in the party to influence the election. Carlos Turcios, a precinct chair, responded that it's "not appropriate to create fights within the party a week before election day." Larry Carpenter Jr., another precinct chair, responding by saying Rodriguez was trying to "censor free speech" and is a “sell out to the actual conservative movement.”
“I would highly recommend you switch parties,” Carpenter wrote. “All of this evidence you sent to me is gay, retarded, ignorant and waste everyones [sic] time as it truly is a joke.”
