A Louisiana lawmaker quietly deleted a social media post dubbing Haitians pet-eating "thugs" after the House's Black Caucus chair told him to take it down, according to a new report.
Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA) faced backlash after he echoed former President Donald Trump's and Sen. J.D. Vance'sdebunked and condemned claim — currently wreaking havoc in Springfield, Ohio — that Haitian immigrants have eaten local pets, Punchbowl News reported Melanie Zanona reported Wednesday.
"GOP Rep. Clay Higgins has now deleted this tweet after he was confronted by CBC Chair Steven Horsford on the House floor, and asked to take it down," Zanona wrote on X.
Zanona shared a screenshot of the post that Higgins later deleted.
"These Haitians are wild," Higgins wrote. "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 was referring to the Haitian Bridge Alliance's decision to file criminal charges against Trump and Vance in Ohio on Tuesday.
Horsford called for Higgins to be censured over the now-deleted post and tried to make a motion to refer the matter for an ethics probe, Zanona added. The chair declined.
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Lead attorney Subodh Chandra referenced the spate of bomb threats that hit Springfield as the two Republicans repeated debunked claims — even as local officials repeatedly said there was no evidence to support the accusations.
"The Haitian community is suffering in fear because of Trump and Vance’s relentless, irresponsible, false alarms, and public services have been disrupted," Chandra said in an official statement. "Anyone else who wreaked havoc the way they did would have been arrested by now."
This did not stop Higgins on Wednesday from asserting of Haitians, "All these thugs better get their mind right and their a-- out of our country before January 20th."
Haitians in Springfield are working legally and improving the city's economy, reports show.
CNN reported that Speaker Mike Johnson later told reporters he deleted the post after having "prayed about it."