Washington
CNN
—
House Democrats immediately tried to rebuke Republican Rep. Clay Higgins of Louisiana from the floor Wednesday for a since-deleted social media post calling Haitian migrants “thugs” and “burlesque gangsters” who needed to “get their a** out of our country.”
The chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, Nevada Democratic Rep. Steven Horsford, has asked the House Ethics Committee to investigate Higgins’ comments about X and has pushed for the House to censure Higgins for his comments, a significant rebuke for a member of Congress. Higgins told CNN he does not regret his remarks.
But Republican Rep. Jay Obernolte of California, who was overseeing the debate for Republicans at the time, told Horsford that the issue could not be pursued immediately because the House had completed its month-long vote.
Before his public comments, Horsford confronted Higgins on the floor and the two men got into a heated exchange, according to sources who witnessed the interaction. Horsford told CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Wednesday night that he asked Higgins to delete the post, to which Higgins responded that he would pray about it.
Horsford said he told Higgins: “If you refuse, I will take the matter to the House. We will propose a resolution to censure you.”
Despite the backlash and the eventual decision to delete the post after he said he prayed about it, Higgins told CNN he stood by his degrading comments.
“It’s all true,” Higgins said. “I can post another controversial message tomorrow if you want. I mean, we have freedom of speech. I’ll say what I want.”
Higgins continued: “It’s not a big deal to me. It’s like something is stuck to the bottom of my boot. I just scrape it off and get on with my life.”
Horsford told “AC360” that he would “continue” his efforts to censor Higgins over the post, which he called “hateful, racially charged and divisive rhetoric.”
“This is not about the next election. This is about ordinary citizens in the United States who feel targeted. Today, it’s Haitians who are targeted. Who will they be tomorrow? Will it be you?” Horsford added.
Higgins is the latest Republican to repeat false allegations that Haitian immigrants ate the pets of residents of Springfield, Ohio, a district led by former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance. The Haitian immigrants Higgins was referring to are largely in the United States legally under a parole program that allows citizens and legal residents to petition to have their family members from Haiti come to the United States.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told CNN that Republicans should consider removing Higgins from the bipartisan task force investigating assassination attempts against Trump in light of his comments about Haitian migrants.
“Congressman Clay Higgins’ statement is disgusting and dangerous,” Jeffries said. “One has to wonder why someone as irresponsible as Clay Higgins would be appointed to a serious task force investigating the work of the Secret Service.”
“This may be something that the House Republican leadership should reevaluate,” Jeffries added.
Democratic Rep. Glenn Ivey of Maryland, who is also a CBC member, told CNN that Higgins’ comments were “shocking.”
“I was really surprised,” Ivey added.
Meanwhile, House Speaker Mike Johnson attempted to assert that Higgins regretted his position.
“Look, he was approached by colleagues on the floor and told him it was offensive. He went to the back — I just talked to him about it — he said he went to the back, he prayed about it and he regretted it, and he took the pole down,” Johnson said Wednesday. “That’s what you want this gentleman to do. I’m sure he probably regrets some of the language he used. But you know, we’re moving forward. We believe in redemption here.”
This story has been updated with additional details.
CNN’s Jack Forrest contributed to this report.
