Rep. Clay Higgins makes Trump look polite with rant about Haitians

Republican Clay Higgins sparked outrage after calling Haitian migrants 'thugs' and accusing them of eating pets and practicing 'vudu.' 

The Louisiana congressmen described Haitians as 'slapstick gangsters' in a now-deleted rant on X that sparked calls by his colleagues to be censured.

In the post, Higgins repeated Donald Trump's debunked claims that Haitian immigrants had been eating their neighbors' pets. 

'These Haitians are wild. Eating pets, vudu, nastiest country in the western hemisphere, cults, slapstick gangsters,' Higgins said in the post on X. 

'All these thugs better get their mind right and their ass out of our country before January 20th,' which is Inauguration Day. 

Similar false statements by Trump have been repeatedly debunked and only served to fuel threats and abuse against the Haitian community.

Higgins, a staunch supporter of Trump, has voiced conspiracy theories in the past. He deleted the post after both Democrats and Republicans confronted him on the House floor.

The head of the Congressional Black Caucus, Democratic Representative Steven Horsford, denounced Higgins comments as inciting hate and vowed to offer a resolution to censure Higgins over the tweet.

'These words on an official post do not reflect credibly on the House,' Horsford said. 'In fact, they are inciting hate. They are inciting fear, and because of that, it is time for this body to stand with one voice and to ensure that there is accountability.'

Florida Republican Byron Donalds confronted Higgins later saying: 'He and I had a conversation about it. I told him my thoughts. I thought it was not a good statement. I thought he should take it down.'

Fellow Louisiana Republican, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise defended Higgins  noting how his tweet had already deleted.  

The House went into recess afterward, without taking immediate action.

Later on Wednesday night, Higgins appeared to stand by his earlier comments despite having taken them off line.

'I can put up another controversial post tomorrow if you want me to. I mean, we do have freedom of speech. I’ll say what I want,' he told CNN.

'It’s not a big deal to me. It’s like something stuck to the bottom of my boot. Just scrape it off and move on with my life,' Higgins continued.

Springfield city and Ohio state officials have repeatedly debunked the false claim, though Trump has doubled down, vowing to try to deport members of the community.

The majority of the 15,000 Haitian Americans in Springfield are in the U.S. legally under a federal program that allows them to remain in the country temporarily. 

The Haitian community has faced an onslaught of racist abuse after Trump and his running mate Senator JD Vance falsely claimed that Haitians were eating pets. 

Higgins was responding to a report that a nonprofit representing the Haitian community has invoked a private-citizen right to file charges against Trump and Vance, which is permissible under Ohio law.

The Haitian Bridge Alliance brought the charges over the chaos and threats experienced by Springfield and for spreading the rumor about the pet-eating.

Higgins' office has not responded to a request for comment about the post and its subsequent deletion.

Top House Democrat Hakeem Jeffries in a statement blasted Higgins' post as 'vile, racist and beneath the dignity' of the House.

'The disgusting statement by Clay Higgins about the Haitian community is vile, racist and beneath the dignity of the United States House of Representatives,' Jeffries said.

'He must be held accountable for dishonorable conduct that is unbecoming of a Member of Congress. Clay Higgins is an election-denying, conspiracy-peddling racial arsonist who is a disgrace to the People's House.'

But Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson quickly came to his defense stressing how Higgins had regretted the post.

'Clay Higgins is a dear friend of mine and a colleague from Louisiana and a very frank and outspoken person. He's also a very principled man.'

He praised Higgins for deleting the post, saying 'he prayed about it, and he regretted it and he pulled the post down. That's what you want a gentleman to do. I'm sure he probably regrets some of the language he used, but, you know, we move forward. We believe in redemption around here.'

Higgins had been 'approached on the floor by colleagues who said that was offensive. 

'He said he went to the back and he prayed about it, and he regretted it, and he pulled the post down.'

Florida Democratic Rep. Maxwell Frost chastised Higgins on X: 'One of the most racist and bigoted posts I've seen from a fellow member of Congress. And from his official government account at that. Disgusting.' 

Higgins has periodically stirred controversy with social media posts since his 2016 election to Congress - including a Facebook post in 2020 promising he would 'drop' armed protesters 'where they stand.' 

More recently he has spread a number of MAGA conspiracy theories including how the January 6 attack on the Capitol was orchestrated by the FBI. 

In 1992, Higgins he was a perpetrator of anti-black racism while an Army military policy officer, describing former KKK Grand Wizard David Duke as 'a homeboy' during Duke's unsuccessful run for the presidency.

'Regardless of the fact that David's a homeboy and all that, the boy's a Nazi, and that's a real problem,' Higgins was quoted as saying in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Since Trump voiced the false claims during a debate against Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, his rival in the November 5 presidential election, Springfield has faced a wave of bomb threats to schools and other facilities.