Republican Confronted on House Floor for ‘Offensive’ Post About Haitians

Louisiana Representative Clay Higgins was confronted during a hearing on the House floor Wednesday after he posted, and then deleted, a statement on social media criticizing Haitian migrants.

The post was screenshotted by Punchbowl News reporter Melanie Zanona before Higgins deleted it from X (formerly Twitter). In it, the Republican lawmaker accused Haitians of “eating pigs, vudu” and called Haiti the “nastiest country in the western hemisphere.”

Higgins also wrote, in part, “All these thugs better get their mind right and their ass out of our country before January 20th.” The post was made to his official X account.

Newsweek did not review Higgins’ post, but it was screenshotted and posted online by several outlets, including HuffPost and reporters with Semafor.

The chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, Nevada Representative Steven Horsford, called for a censure in response to the post, saying that Higgins’ views “do not reflect credibly on the House. In fact, they’re inciting hate, they’re inciting fear.”

The motion started a heated back-and-forth with Republican members of Congress, including House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who objected to Horsford’s motion.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, a fellow Louisiana Republican, told reporters Wednesday that Higgins “was approached on the floor by colleagues” who said the post “was offensive.”

“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,” Johnson said, according to a report from Punchbowl News founder Jake Sherman.

“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 said.

This is a developing story that will be updated as more information becomes available.