Greg Abbott
Role at the time: Governor of Texas responding to a request for comment from CBS News Texas.
Challenged the characterization
Responding to
The appearance of the fans in the image showed that Americans had been displaced by foreigners.
“That is not my message. A selective picture of Longhorn fans celebrating our biggest home victory-ever-actually shows a way that Texans unite. We all support our college football teams. The way we win the state is the same way we win football games. We unite under the brand of Texas. That doesn't mean that Texas cannot also lead in having the toughest immigration laws of any state in America and freezing H1B visas at our universities.”
Why we used this label
Abbott challenges French’s characterization of the pictured fans but does not expressly condemn the act of posting the image; he preserves an adjacent restrictive immigration-policy position.
CBS Texas reports on Bo French’s posts and responses from Greg Abbott and R.C. Damle (opens in a new tab)Statements attributed to Greg Abbott and R.C. Damle and verification of the image’s source.
Original local reporting that verified the still came from an official Texas Athletics video and published Abbott’s direct response.