Monica De La Cruz
Role at the time: United States representative giving a statement to a news outlet
Condemned
Statement summary
De La Cruz said the photograph showed only students celebrating a win, and said she is willing to condemn racism wherever it comes from.
“All I see in that photograph is a group of kids celebrating a Longhorns win. What can be more Texan than that?”
Open source (opens in a new tab)Texas Republicans are scrambling after Bo French's outburstReport quoting De La Cruz, Nehls, Kim and Republican strategists.
Politico report timestamped 5:00 AM ET on September 15, 2026. It states that no Republican explicitly called for French to drop out, that Dan Patrick did not respond to a request for comment, and that two students in the photo told the Dallas Morning News they are US citizens.
Why we used this label
The conduct under scrutiny is French's use of the image as evidence of a problem. De La Cruz rejects that reading and, in the same statement, says she will condemn racism whatever its source.