Higgins Walks Back Comments Calling Haitians ‘Thugs’

Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.) on Thursday morning walked back his comments calling Haitians “thugs” after backlash from both sides of the aisle.

“You never want to intentionally hurt someone’s feelings, and that post was intended for Haitian gangs, you understand?” Higgins told reporters. “Not for, I mean, Haiti as a country, not at all. And the unintended impact that was expressed very sincerely from one of my colleagues very graciously, that touched me as a gentleman.”

On Wednesday, Higgins posted on X that “Haitians are wild” and that Haiti is the “nastiest country in the western hemisphere.” He also promoted a false claim about Haitian migrants in Ohio eating pets.

“All these thugs better get their mind right and their a– out of our country before January 20th,” the post concluded.

He deleted the post several hours later.

The Congressional Black Caucus on Wednesday lambasted Higgins for his remarks, calling for him to be censured. Some House Republicans also criticized the comments.

Rep. John Duarte (R-Calif.), said he was “shocked and disappointed” by Higgins’s comments, adding that the rhetoric reduced “Haitian immigrants to offensive tropes.”

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