GOP Rep. Clay Higgins Posts Racist Tweet About Haitian People

Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.) on Wednesday unleashed a racist tirade against Haitian people.

“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,” Higgins wrote in a now-deleted tweet on X (formerly Twitter). “All these thugs better get their mind right and their ass out of our country before January 20th.”

The post came in response to the news that the Haitian Bridge Alliance, a nonprofit organization that advocates for immigrants, is suing Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and his running mate, Sen. 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 on both sides of the aisle. Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.), chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, called for Higgins to be censured.

Horsford told reporters that he had asked Higgins to delete the post and that he initially refused to do so.

“He actually told me, no, he would not, and then that’s when we started the action on the floor,” Horsford said. “It’s vile. It’s the type of rhetoric that continues to divide people against each other. We have Haitians and Haitian Americans who are literally under threat.”

Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) told reporters he had advised Higgins to remove the post. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said Higgins had “prayed about” the post and then removed it.

The underlying noxious claims about Haitians gained traction on Facebook earlier this month, and Trump and Vance spread it even more widely. Trump amplified the vile accusation on the debate stage against Vice President Kamala Harris earlier this month, and has made it a regular part of his stump speech.

There is absolutely no truth to the claim, and members of the Haitian community in Springfield largely have legal status, hold jobs, and have bought homes and opened businesses.

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

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

Higgins’ tweet on Wednesday is not his first time using menacing language on social media. In 2020, he posted a picture of armed Black demonstrators on Facebook and said he would “drop any 10 of you where you stand.” Facebook removed the post for violating its policies against violence and incitement.

Even though blatant racism has become standard among many GOP figures, at least one of Higgins’ Democratic colleagues is singling him out.

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