Republican Rep. Clay Higgins of Louisiana supplied up a mealy-mouthed nonapology on Thursday for posting a deeply racist diatribe in opposition to Haitian folks on his social media account.
Reporters adopted him to an elevator on the Capitol, the place one in every of them requested Higgins whether or not or not he “believed those things” he wrote about Haitians in a Wednesday put up on X. “Those things” included claiming that Haitian folks take part in “eating pets,” apply “vudu,” and are available from the “nastiest country in the western hemisphere” earlier than demanding that “All these thugs better get their mind right and their ass out of our country before January 20th.”
Higgins claimed he was speaking about “Haitian gangs” earlier than saying he listened to the considerations of 1 congressional “colleague from Florida” and having “prayed about it, but just a few seconds,” he then took the put up down.
“And I hadn’t even seen it,” Higgins added. “At that point I hadn’t even seen the post. I have still not seen it. Never saw it when it was up, never saw it since it’s been down. I don’t even have Twitter on my phone, ya understand.”
This was a marked change from Higgins’ unapologetic Wednesday evening assertion to CNN.
“It’s all true,” he mentioned. “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. It’s like something stuck to the bottom of my boot. Just scrape it off and move on with my life.”
Higgins’ bigoted put up was prompted by the information {that a} Haitian neighborhood group filed a lawsuit in opposition to Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and his working mate JD Vance over their heinous lies that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, have been stealing and consuming residents’ pets.
The put up was deleted two hours after it was first revealed. Members of the Congressional Black Caucus took to the Home flooring and known as for Higgins to be censured, whereas the GOP closed ranks across the infamous congressman.
Home Speaker Mike Johnson, a fellow Louisianan, tried to say ignorance concerning the inflammatory tweet earlier than a gaggle of reporters informed him what Higgins had written.
“Ok, he was approached on the floor by colleagues who said that was offensive,” Johnson responded. “He went to the back—I just talked to him about it—he said he went to the back and he prayed about it, and he regretted it, and he pulled the post down. That’s what you want the gentleman to do. I’m sure he probably regrets the language he used. But you know, we move forward. We believe in redemption around here.”
Johnson’s protection of Higgins is only one extra instance of the GOP’s lowered requirements. In 2019, Home Republicans punished Rep. Steve King by stripping him of his committee assignments for being too overtly racist. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene confronted related punishment in 2021 for spreading harmful conspiracy theories. Conduct that institution Republicans as soon as thought of unacceptable is now the Grand Previous Celebration’s on a regular basis model.
Democrats led by Congressional Black Caucus Chair Steven Horsford are reportedly planning to pressure a vote on a decision to censure Higgins when the Home returns from recess following the November election.
“We have to explore, sadly, every action possible,” Horsford told reporters about Higgins’ tweet, “and this was one that we have available because it does violate the rules.”
