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A Republicancongressman has faced heavy backlash following a “racist” online post, in which he described Haitian immigrants as “slapstick gangsters” who ate pets and practiced “vudu.”
Scores of people, including fellow members of the House, condemned Louisiana representative Clay Higgins over the post, which came in response to news that citizen criminal charges have been brought against Donald Trump and JD Vance in Springfield.
“Lol. These Haitians are wild,” Higgins wrote, in response to an article by the Associated Press about the charges.
“Eating pets, vudu, nastiest country in the western hemisphere, cults, slapstick gangsters... but damned if they don’t feel all sophisticated now, filing charges against our President and VP. All these thugs better get their mind right and their ass out of our country before January 20th.”
January 20 is the date that the next president is sworn into office.
Higgins later deleted the post, after multiple complaints, including from fellow congressman and Congressional Black Caucus Chair Steven Horsford on the House floor who submitted a motion to censure Higgins for “bringing discredit and disgrace to the House of Representatives.”
Horsford said Higgins’ words “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 there is accountability.”
Speaker Mike Johnson later defended Higgins, who he described as “a dear friend of mine” and told reporters that Higgins had “prayed about” the post and then “regretted it.”
“He was 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,” Johnson said.
“I’m sure he probably regrets the language he used. But you know, we move forward. We believe in redemption around here.”
Despite its swift deletion, X users also reacted to the original post, including CNN anchor Jake Tapper, who brought up Higgins’ previous 1992 endorsement of notorious former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard David Duke for governor.
“By the way, yes, it’s 2024 and members of Congress are still saying things like this aloud!” Tapper wrote. “No dog whistle here – this is a full-on bullhorn,” wrote another user.
“I thought this was fake, I had to check myself, and he posted this from his official government account,” added another user.
Higgins’ tweet was responding to a report that a nonprofit representing the Haitian community has invoked a private-citizen right to file charges against Donald Trump and JD Vance.
The Haitian Bridge Alliance brought the charges over the chaos and threats experienced by Springfield since Trump first spread the false claims about legal immigrants there during a presidential debate. Vance, his Republican running mate, has also repeated the slur, even appearing to suggest that he felt entitled to “create” negative stories about immigrants.
Trump has also vowed to deport immigrants like those in Springfield who entered the country legally under a federal program that allows them to remain in the country temporarily.
