Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., walked back his comments likening Haitians to "thugs" on Thursday, telling reporters the post was intended for "Haitian gangs," The Hill reported.
Higgins faced backlash from lawmakers, including some in his own party, after a Wednesday post asserting that "Haitians are wild" and calling Haiti the "nastiest country in the western hemisphere." He doubled down later in a statement to CNN, saying "it's all true."
But he subsequently deleted the controversial post on X and by Thursday was contrite if not apologetic.
"You never want to intentionally hurt someone's feelings, and that post was intended for Haitian gangs, you understand?" Higgins told reporters, The Hill reported. "Not for, I mean, Haiti as a country, not at all. And the unintended impact that was expressed very sincerely from one of my colleagues very graciously, that touched me as a gentleman."
The impetus for Higgins' post appeared to be the news that the Haitian Bridge Alliance in Springfield, Ohio, sought the arrests of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and his running mate, J.D. Vance, for promoting rumors that Haitians were eating pets, a notion that has been repeatedly refuted.
"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 the since-deleted post. "All these thugs better get their mind right and their a-- out of our country before January 20."
Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nev., chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, called on the House Committee on Ethics to investigate Higgins and pushed for Higgins to be censured. At least one House Republican told Politico they would support it.
CNN reported that Horsford confronted Higgins on the House floor Wednesday, demanding he delete the post, to which Higgins said he would pray about it.
After praying on it, Higgins told CNN he stood by his comments.
"It's all true," Higgins said. "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."
One House Republican publicly rebuked Higgins.
"I was shocked and disappointed to see rhetoric from one of my colleagues that reduced Haitian immigrants to offensive tropes," posted Rep. John Duarte, R-Calif. "I hope Mr. Higgins recognizes that his words were completely unacceptable and apologizes for what he said," he added Thursday morning before Higgins recanted.
It's not clear if the CBC will still pursue censure against Higgins.
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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