claim:
Beau French, the Republican candidate for Texas oil and gas regulators, has said he wants to remove Native Americans.
grade:
Rating: True
context:
A spokesperson for French said in an emailed statement that he was not referring to all Native Americans, but to those in the photo he shared in the X comment.
In February 2026, there were rumors that Bo French, the Republican candidate for the Texas Railroad Commission, which regulates oil and gas, wanted to expel Native Americans (Native Americans)
Multiple social media posts made the statement, including on Facebook, where one user said French called for the deportation of “Third World savages” including Native Americans (archived):
The same statement was made on X and Instagram. Some of the posts linked to a Texas Monthly article from February 10, 2026 (archived), which included a line that read: “One of French’s favorite phrases is ‘Third World savage’ — a term he uses to describe Afghan asylum seekers, Muslims and even Native Americans from whom he also hopes to deport.”
Indeed, the French called for the expulsion of Native Americans. He did so in a post on X on October 10, 2025 (archived):
Since we want to cancel and deport all third world barbarians who hate our country, I am calling for these third world barbarians that we have conquered to be added to the list and then oddly enough one of our own country be added to the list.
His post included a photo of three women and a girl wearing traditional-looking clothes and raising their middle fingers toward Mount Rushmore, where sculptor Gerzon Borglum carved the faces of U.S. presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt.
An image search revealed that the earliest instance of this image being shared online was a 2024 Facebook post titled “The only reason Native people come to visit is to do this,” which represents a protest against the history of European colonization in the United States that resulted in the massive and systematic massacre of Native people.
When asked to explain his X post, a spokesman for the French campaign said he was not saying the United States should deport all Native Americans, just those in the photo.
“Mr. French has never called for the complete removal of Native Americans,” the spokesperson said in an email. “If you look at his actual tweets from last year, you’ll see that he specifically talked about the four people in the photo who clearly hate America.”
We responded asking what country he thought the four Native Americans should be deported to and will update this report if we receive a response.
French has also repeatedly called for the denaturalization of U.S. citizens. He described (archived) Texas Tribune reporter Carlos Nogueira Ramos, who wrote a story about French language, as a “journalist about to be deported.” Nogueira Ramos’ bio on the Texas Monthly website lists him as Puerto Rican, which makes him a U.S. citizen.
For further reading, Snopes previously reported that French had spread the claim that voting machines in Tarrant County, Texas, where he serves as Republican Party chairman, switched votes from Trump to those of former Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris. He withdrew his claim shortly thereafter.
Source:
“Beau French to become Texas Railroad Commissioner.” Beau FrenchDecember 17, 2025, bofrench.com/. Accessed: February 19, 2026.
Lyles, Jordan. “Republican official clears up overstatement that Texas ballots ‘flipped’ votes from Trump to Harris.” SnopesSnopes.com, 25 Oct. 2024, www.snopes.com/news/2024/10/25/texas-flipping-votes-trump-harris/. Accessed: February 19, 2026.
Ramos, Carlos Nogueras. “In a race to regulate Texas’ oil and gas industry, a Republican wants to talk about DEI and China.” texas tribune12 February 2026, www.texastribune.org/2026/02/12/texas-railroad-commission-bo-french-election-2026/. Accessed: February 19, 2026.
Wilder, Forrest. “He wants to deport 100 million ‘Third World savages.’ He might win statewide office in Texas.” texas monthlyFebruary 10, 2026, www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/bo-french-railroad-commission/. Accessed: February 19, 2026.
