Troy Nehls
Role at the time: United States representative speaking to reporters
Statement summary
Nehls said he did not know French and had heard he said unpleasant things, then turned to his own call to close the border for ten years.
“I don’t really know the guy. I heard he said some not so pleasant things. … I am concerned about the number of people living in this country, and we don’t even know who they really are. Shut the border down for 10 years, and then let’s try to figure out who we got in this country because we don’t even know.”
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 post. Nehls neither condemns nor defends it, saying only that he heard unpleasant things were said before moving to an immigration argument. Politico groups him with Republicans less willing to fully denounce the comments.