Speaker Johnson and top House Republicans rush to protect ‘racial arsonist’ Clay Higgins
In the hours after far-right U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins posted a racist tweet attacking Haitian immigrants, top Republicans including Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, moved to protect their fellow Louisiana Congressman.
Zeteo media correspondent Justin Baragona posted a screenshot of Higgin's widely-condemned tweet, which read: "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. All these thugs better get their mind right and their ass out of our country before January 20th."
Higgins' comment about "our President and VP" referred to Republican nominees Donald Trump and JD Vance, who are facing criminal charges for "pet-eating" lies attacking Haitians in the state of Ohio.
MSNBC host, legal contributor and correspondent Katie Phang remarked: "Higgins doesn’t try to hide the racism or the xenophobia. Instead, he decides that full bore 'round ‘em up and string ‘em up' energy was the way to go."
Congressman Higgins has not apologized, and appears unrepentant.
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"Despite the backlash and ultimate decision to take down the post after he said he prayed on it, Higgins told CNN he stood by his demeaning comments," the news network reported.
“It’s all true,” Higgins said of his post. “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.”
House Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries issued a strong statement condemning Higgins, his remarks, and "extreme MAGA Republicans."
"The disgusting statement by Clay Higgins about the Haitian community is vile, racist and beneath the dignity of the United States House of Representatives," Jeffries's statement begins. "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. This is who they have become. Republicans are the party of Donald Trump, Mark Robinson, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Clay Higgins and Project 2025. The extreme MAGA Republicans in the House are unfit to govern."
Saying he had "heard about" the tweet, Speaker Johnson told reporters, "Clay Higgins is a dear friend of mine and a colleague from Louisiana, and a very frank and outspoken person. He's also a very principled man. And, I think, he tweeted – I didn’t even see it but he tweeted something today about Haitians."
The Speaker appeared to dismiss a reporter when she interjected that Rep. Higgins had "told them to get out of the country by Jan 20th."
"Well, OK," Johnson responded, seemingly irritated by the reporter's remark. "He was approached on the floor by colleagues who said that was offensive. He said 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 a 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."
U.S. Rep. Steven Horsford (D-NV), the Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, quickly moved to have the House censure Congressman Higgins, but House Republican Majority Leader Steve Scalise, also from Louisiana, defended Higgins.
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Scalise, who reportedly once boasted he was "David Duke without the baggage"—a reference to the former KKK Grand Wizard whom Higgins reportedly supported in a Louisiana gubernatorial race—stood on the House floor and opposed the motion to censure Higgins.
"First of all, the tweet has been deleted already, and removed, but I object to the motion," Scalise said, as roars of anger from the House grew loud. "And if we want to go through every comment, tweet from the other side, we’ll be happy to do it."
Scalise was interrupted, as he had not been recognized to speak on the floor.
"You would be appalled by some of the things that have not been removed," Scalise continued, after his microphone appeared to be cut off.
U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL), who last year was in the running to be Speaker of the House and this year rumored to have been on Donald Trump's vice presidential shortlist, and U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-TX), tried to minimize the impact of Higgins' attack on Haitians.
"Both Reps. Byron Donalds and Wesley Hunt said they don’t think Higgins’s post hurt Donald Trump with Black voters," Semafor's Kadia Goba reported.
Congressman Hunt told her, “Everybody knows who they’re going to vote for at this point.”
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