Louisiana Rep. Clay Higgins walks back racist comments about Haitians after backlash

Louisiana Rep. Clay Higgins on Thursday retracted comments he made about Haitian immigrants in a now-deleted social media post.

"You never want to intentionally hurt someone’s feelings, and that post was intended for Haitian gangs, you understand?” Higgins, a Republican, told reporters according to The Hill. “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.”

NPR contacted Higgins' office for comment but has not received a response.

Higgins has received backlash in recent days for amplifying false claims about Haitians eating pets and calling them “thugs” in response to a report by the Associated Press. The news organization reported that the Haitian Bridge Alliance, a nonprofit group supporting Haitians, is seeking criminal charges against former President Donald Trump and his running mate, JD Vance,

“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 on his official account on X. “All these thugs better get their mind right and their asses out of our country before January 20th.”

Asked about his comments on CNN later Wednesday, Higgins defended the tweet.

“It’s all true,” Higgins said, according to the news organization. “I can put up another controversial post tomorrow if you want me to. I mean, we do have freedom of speech. I’ll say what I want.”

The Congressional Black Caucus on Wednesday condemned his comments and introduced a resolution to censure Higgins.

“Referring to Haiti as the “nastiest country