Louisiana Rep. In National Spotlight For “overtly racist” post
Louisiana Representative Clay Higgins (R-La) has come under fire from all sides for a post on X that has been called "overtly racist" by Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nv).
Higgins Controversial Post
On Wednesday night, soon before the House of Representatives was scheduled to depart for recess through the elections, Rep. Higgins took to X to make a post that furthered the false narrative that Haitian immigrants in Ohio are eating their neighbor's pets. The post was taken down hours after it received tremendous backlash from all sides of the party lines.
"Lol. These Haitians are wild. 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." - Rep. Higgins in a now-deleted post on X
Significant Backlash
The criticism of Higgins's statement was swift, even fellow House Republicans calling out Rep. Higgins. Fellow Republican Representative from California, John Duarte, took to X on Thursday morning stating that he "was shocked and disappointed" to see what his colleague had shared.
Wednesday night following the post the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) called for Higgins to be censured for his post.
"I hope that every member of this body understands that no person, particularly those who contribute to communities....those children, no longer have to live in fear or intimidation because of any words or quotes to come from members of this body," said CBC Chair Steven Horsford on the House floor.
Higgins Back and Forth Retraction
Fellow Rep. from Louisiana, Mike Johnson (R-La) told reporters that after Higgins was confronted "He said he went back and he prayed about it, and he regretted it, and he pulled the post down."
Despite what Rep. Johnson told reporters Higgins reportedly doubled down in a statement to CNN's Anderson Cooper "It's all true. 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. It's not a big deal to me."