Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.) on Wednesday unleashed a racist tirade in opposition to Haitian folks.
“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,” Higgins wrote in a now-deleted tweet on X (previously Twitter). “All these thugs better get their mind right and their ass out of our country before January 20th.”
The submit got here in response to the information that the Haitian Bridge Alliance, a nonprofit group that advocates for immigrants, is suing Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and his operating mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), for inciting violence with their lies about Haitian immigrants consuming pets in Springfield, Ohio.
The declare gained traction on Fb, and Trump and Vance unfold it much more broadly. Trump amplified the vile accusation on the talk stage in opposition to Vice President Kamala Harris earlier this month, and has made it a daily a part of his stump speech.
There may be completely no fact to the declare, and members of the Haitian group in Springfield largely have authorized standing, maintain jobs, and have purchased houses and opened companies.
Reporters, Springfield officers and even some Republicans have stated the declare just isn’t true, however Trump and Vance have endured. Earlier this month, Vance argued on CNN that generally it is smart “to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention.”
Trump and Vance’s lies have led to bomb threats, evacuations, and occasion cancellations in Ohio.
Higgins’ tweet on Wednesday just isn’t his first time utilizing menacing language on social media. In 2020, he posted an image of armed Black demonstrators on Fb and stated he would “drop any 10 of you where you stand.” Fb eliminated the submit for violating its insurance policies in opposition to violence and incitement.
Despite the fact that blatant racism has develop into customary amongst many GOP figures, at the very least one in all Higgins’ Democratic colleagues is singling him out.
“One of the most racist and bigoted posts I’ve seen from a fellow member of Congress,” Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.), who has Haitian ancestry, stated on X. “And from his official government account at that. Disgusting.”
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