Politics and Current
Watch: Congresswoman Plaskett Slams Republicans for Blocking Condemnation of Higgins for Racist Post
U.S. Rep. Stacey Plaskett sharply criticized Republicans for blocking a measure passed by the Congressional Black Caucus to censure U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., for his racist and now-deleted tweet disparaging Haitians.
“As if there was nothing to see here. Keep going,” Plaskett said of her Republican colleagues within the U.S. House of Representatives.
Following the backlash to his post, Higgins attempted to backtrack on his remarks, through which he called Haitians “gangsters” and Haiti “the nastiest country in the Western Hemisphere.”
“You never want to intentionally hurt someone’s feelings, and that post was intended for Haitian gangs…” Higgins told reporters on Thursday.
Plaskett explained that the racist theory relies on “the idea that Jews and others are paying immigrants to come to this country in order to take over the country and replace white people with Christians in this country.”
“It’s easy to demonize a group of people who aren’t like you,” said Plaskett, co-chair of the Congressional Caribbean Caucus. “We, especially black Americans, need to understand that when they go against the Haitians, they will go against us, and we will be next.”
As for the failed motion to censure Higgins, Plaskett argued that the consequence would have been different “if a Democrat had done something like that.”
“They wish to condemn Democrats simply because of where they were born. Only because of religious beliefs,” she argued, referring to the condemnation of US MP Ilhan Omar from Minnesota.
Watch the total interview above.