Republican Rep. Higgins Condemned for Calling Haitians ‘Savage’ and ‘Thugs’ in Now-Deleted X Post

A Republican lawmaker deleted a social media post he made about Haitians after drawing criticism from the House of Representatives as the topic of illegal immigrants from the war-torn country has gained national attention.

Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA) wrote a post on X Wednesday calling Haitians “savage,” “slapstick gangsters” and “thugs,” Just The News reports.

“Lol. These Haitians are wild,” the lawmaker wrote. against our president and vice president.”

“All these criminals better get their minds straight and get their *ss out of our country before January 20.”

After being confronted by several representatives in the House of Representatives, Higgins reportedly deleted the post. Many shared their disappointment on social media.

“We all owe each other better than this, but as elected officials we must hold ourselves to an even higher standard,” said Rep. Troy Carter (D-LA). “We have a solemn responsibility to represent and respect all races of people. Hate-filled rhetoric like this is not only offensive – it’s dangerous.”

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) condemned Higgins’ comments in a statement he posted to X, calling them “disgusting” and saying MAGA Republicans have no place in office.

Rep. John Duarte (R-CA) wrote that he was “shocked and disappointed” by his colleague’s comments in an X post.

As a father, farmer, and proud representative of a district full of hardworking immigrant families, I was shocked and disappointed to see the rhetoric from one of my colleagues that reduced Haitian immigrants to offensive tropes.

Immigrants deserve dignity, humanity and…

— Rep. John Duarte (CA-13) (@RepDuarteCA13) September 26, 2024

The post in question was a reference to the criminal charges filed against former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Republican Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio, for publicly discussing reports of Haitian immigrants killing dogs and cats ate in Springfield, Ohio.

Higgins has made several statements about his now-deleted comments.

“You never want to intentionally hurt anyone’s feelings,” he told ABC News reporters on Thursday. He also made it clear that he was not talking about the Haitian community as a whole, but about the criminals.

Rep. Clay Higgins told reporters: “You never want to intentionally hurt anyone’s feelings.” Says his post on When a colleague expressed the “unintended impact… that affected me as a gentleman.” pic.twitter.com/tRlJ0cwAx6

— Kristen Eskow (@KristenEskow) September 26, 2024

“Haiti is a country, not a color,” he added. “The unintended impact, and this was expressed to me sincerely and in a very friendly manner by my colleagues, affected me as a gentleman. I prayed about it and very, very quickly deleted the post.”

Speaking to CNN, Higgins stood by his original post and told the network that it is his First Amendment right to post whatever he wants.

“It’s all true. I can do another controversial post tomorrow if you want. I mean, we do have freedom of speech. I will say what I want,” he told CNN.

“For me it’s not that bad. It’s like something is stuck to the bottom of my boot. Just scrape it off and move on with my life.

Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, Rep. Steven Horsford (D-NV), introduced a resolution in the House of Representatives censuring Higgins for his post.