GOP Rep. Clay Higgins posts racist tweet about Haitians

Republican Rep. Clay Higgins of Louisiana launched a racist tirade against the Haitian people on Wednesday.

“Lol. These Haitians are wild. Eating pets, Vudu, worst country in the Western Hemisphere, cults, slapstick gangsters… but damn if they don't feel all cultured right now and press charges against our President and Vice President,” Higgins wrote in a now-deleted tweet on X (formerly Twitter). “All these gangsters better get their minds together and get their asses out of our country before January 20th.”

The post came in response to news that the Haitian Bridge Alliance, a nonprofit organization that advocates for immigrants, Lawsuit against Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and his running mate, Senator JD Vance (R-Ohio), for inciting violence with their lies about Haitian immigrants eating pets in Springfield, Ohio.

Higgins deleted the post late Wednesday afternoon after being confronted by colleagues from both parties. Democratic Rep. Steven Horsford (Nev.), chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, called for Higgins to be reprimanded.

Horsford told reporters he asked Higgins to delete the post and he initially refused.

“He actually told me no, he wouldn't do that, and then we started the action in the chamber,” Horsford said. “This is abhorrent. This is the kind of rhetoric that continues to pit people against each other. We have Haitians and Haitian-Americans who are literally under threat.”

Republican Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida told reporters he advised Higgins to remove the post. Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana said Higgins “prayed over the post” and then removed it.

The underlying vicious claims about Haitians were shared on Facebook earlier this month and further spread by Trump and Vance. Trump amplified the vile accusation even further on the debate stage against Vice President Kamala Harris earlier this month, making it a regular part of his campaign speech.

There is absolutely no truth to this claim, as most members of the Haitian community in Springfield have legal status, are employed, have purchased homes, and have opened businesses.

reporterOfficials from Springfield and even some Republicans have said the claim is not true, but Trump and Vance have persisted. Earlier this month, Vance said argued on CNN that sometimes it makes sense to “invent stories so that the American media actually pays attention to them.”

Trump and Vance's lies have led to bomb threats, evacuations and event cancellations in Ohio.

Higgins' tweet on Wednesday is not the first time he has used threatening language on social media. In 2020 posted a picture of armed black protesters on Facebook and said he would “drop ten of you right now.” Facebook removed the post because it violated its policies against violence and incitement.

Although blatant racism has become the norm among many figures in the Republican Party, at least one of Higgins' Democratic colleagues is specifically attacking him.

“One of the most racist and bigoted posts I have seen from a fellow member of Congress,” said Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.), who has Haitian ancestry. said on X“And from his official government account, too. Disgusting.”