Republican US lawmaker slammed over racist threat to Haitians

A far-right US Republican was berated by fellow lawmakers Wednesday over a racist attack that referenced lies spread by the party's presidential election nominee Donald Trump about Haitians eating pets.

Louisiana's Clay Higgins -- taking his cue from Trump and running mate J.D. Vance -- has been pushing a false narrative that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, are eating their neighbors' cats and dogs.

"Lol. These Haitians are wild. Eating pets, vudu, nastiest country in the western hemisphere, cults, slapstick gangsters," Higgins posted on X before threatening the community to leave the country.

"All these thugs better get their mind right and their ass out of our country before January 20th," he warned in the since-deleted post.

Vudu is the former name for digital video store and streaming service Fandango at Home, but it is likely that Higgins meant vodou -- sometimes rendered as "voodoo" -- a religion practiced chiefly in Haiti.

The Haitian community in Springfield is in the country legally, and Steven Horsford, the chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, took to the House floor alongside several fellow Democrats to call for Higgins to be censured.

"The disgusting statement by Clay Higgins about the Haitian community is vile, racist and beneath the dignity of the United States House of Representatives," said Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

"He must be held accountable for dishonorable conduct that is unbecoming of a member of Congress. Clay Higgins is an election-denying, conspiracy-peddling racial arsonist who is a disgrace to the People's House."

Higgins posted after a Haitian American lobby group filed charges against Trump and Vance -- which is permissible under Ohio law -- for spreading the rumor about the pet-eating.

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson came to his fellow Louisiana congressman's defense, calling Higgins "a dear friend" who was "frank and outspoken" but "principled."

"He was approached on the floor by colleagues who said that was offensive," Johnson told reporters.

"He went to the back -- I just talked to him about it -- he said he went to the back and he prayed about it, and he regretted it, and he pulled the post down. That's what you want the gentleman to do, I'm sure he probably regrets the language he used."