Louisiana Congressman Clay Higgins Under Fire for Now-Deleted Tweet on Haitian Immigrants
LAFAYETTE, La. (KPEL News) - The congressman representing Louisiana's 3rd Congressional District has stirred up a lot of animosity with a now-deleted post on X (formerly known as Twitter) on Haitian immigrants, in which he referred to the small Caribbean nation as "the nastiest country in the western hemisphere."
Higgins was called out by members of the Congressional Black Caucus, and even spoken to by members of his own party, and he subsequently deleted the post.
"Lol," he wrote in the social media post. "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," he concluded.
It appears Higgins was attempting to reference "voodoo" - a mystic religious practice that developed in Haiti centuries ago - but instead spelled "vudu" which is the former name of the streaming service "Fandango at Home," which is used to stream movies and television shows online.
His tweet also references debunked "eating pets" claims made by Republicans about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio. Those claims, amplified by former president Donald Trump in his debate against Vice President Kamala Harris, also drew widespread criticism from officials in the town, who vehemently denied such things were happening.
After the post went live, black members of the House, reportedly including Republican Byron Donalds of Florida, confronted Higgins about the post. He refused to take it down and later claimed members of the House "attacked" him over the post.
However, Higgins left the floor soon after, and members of the Congressional Black Caucus took to the floor to go on record about their feelings.
“These words, on an official post, do not reflect credibly on the House,” Congressional Black Caucus Chair Steven Horsford said in a speech. “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’s accountability.”
“These lies target some of the most vulnerable among us — individuals and families fleeing violence, instability, and humanitarian crises in search of a better life,” a statement from the ‘Tri-Caucus’ (a combination of the Congressional Black, Hispanic and Asian Pacific American Caucuses) read. “To demonize and dehumanize them with baseless accusations puts their lives at risk and is an affront to everything we stand for as a nation.”
Asked by reporters about the tweet, House Speaker Mike Johnson, also from Louisiana, said Higgins "prayed about it and regretted it."
Democrats may try to push a resolution to censure Higgins over the post, though it is not clear how far that would get in the Republican-controlled House.
