Following in the footsteps of party nominee Donald Trump and vice-presidential candidate JD Vance, Louisiana’s Clay Higgins has been spreading a false narrative that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, are eating their neighbors’ cats and dogs. On September 25, 2024, fellow lawmakers chastised the far-right US Republican for his racist attack, which referred to lies about Haitians eating pets.
Higgins threatened to flee the nation after making a post on X, “Lol. These Haitians are wild. Eating pets, Vudu, nastiest country in the western hemisphere, cults, slapstick gangsters.”
- Advertisement -
“All these thugs better get their mind right and their ass out of our country before January 20th,” He issued a warning in the since-removed post.
Springfield’s Haitian community is lawfully present in the nation, and Congressional Black Caucus chairman Steven Horsford joined several other Democratic members on the House floor to demand that Higgins be censured.
Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic Minority Leader, stated, “The disgusting statement by Clay Higgins about the Haitian community is vile, racist, and beneath the dignity of the United States House of Representatives.”
“He must be held accountable for dishonorable conduct that is unbecoming of a Member of Congress. Clay Higgins is an election-denying, conspiracy-peddling racial arsonist who is a disgrace to the People’s House.”
Higgins made her statement in response to a lobby organization representing Haitians in Ohio filing charges against Trump and Vance for allegedly disseminating false information about pet-eating.
In comments obtained by US media, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson defended his fellow Louisiana congressman, calling Higgins “a dear friend” who was “frank and outspoken” but “principled.”
Johnson stated, as reported by Punchbowl News, “He was approached on the floor by colleagues who said that was offensive.”
Johnson stated, “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.”
