Clay Higgins

U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins defended his record Thursday as attendees at a Lafayette town hall questioned him about past remarks concerning Black Americans. The Republican congressman also fielded questions about Social Security, inflation, fuel prices and congressional term limits.

The event at The Hub, formerly Northgate Mall, was Higgins’ third town hall in Acadiana this election cycle. Previous events in Crowley and New Iberia included tense exchanges with attendees, and some questioners were eventually removed from the New Iberia meeting.

Higgins opened Thursday’s event by cautioning attendees against disrupting the discussion.

“I wear a band that says ‘redemption,’ not ‘perfection,’” Higgins said. “It’s not right to disrupt this type of beautiful engagement.”

But attendees soon raised questions about controversial remarks Higgins has made during his time in public office.

One questioner challenged Higgins over what the person described as hostility toward Black men, citing a 2024 post on X in which Higgins criticized Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio. The post, which was later deleted, described Haitians as “wild” and referred to voodoo, gangs and the country as the “nastiest” in the Western Hemisphere. The House later censured Higgins over the post.

Higgins rejected the suggestion that he was racist.

"There's not a point in my life in which you could categorize me as a racist,” he said. “It's hurtful that you would say those things about me. You obviously never met my family and you obviously weren't at my wedding. I am an imperfect man driven by perfect intention."

Another attendee raised questions about videos Higgins made while working for the St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office that helped bring him to public attention. In the videos, Higgins referred to Black suspects as “animals,” language that has drawn accusations of racism.

Higgins said he used the term to condemn behavior, not people.

"My intention was to separate that behavior from how humans should act," he said. "If I terrorize my fellow man, that is animalistic behavior. Children of God are not supposed to act like that."

Economic concerns

Higgins also fielded questions about Social Security, saying the program was not declining or failing. He pointed to his support for the Social Security Fairness Act, which he said was an example of his willingness to work across party lines.

“I was the loudest Republican voice for passing the Social Security Fairness Act,” Higgins said. “It was the only time I attended a signing at the Biden White House, which you can imagine I wasn’t very welcome in most of the time.”

On affordability, Higgins said the current inflationary trend was driven primarily by spending increases.

"You should think of the treasury notes in your wallet like owning stock in a company," he said. "If you print a million dollars, the value of your company doesn't increase, the value of your dollar decreases."

Higgins also discussed the possible suspension of the federal fuel tax, which has hit many local farmers hard.

The congressman pointed to a bill he co-sponsored that would suspend most of the federal fuel tax until Dec. 31. However, the bill was killed in the House Ways and Means committee.

He said he expected relief from high fuel prices as the conflict with Iran comes to an end, linking energy prices to inflation.

“The inflationary trend is directly attached to energy product which is because of the Iran conflict,” Higgins said. “The corrective measures we’re taking over there right now, there’s an end to that.”

Term limits

Higgins also answered a question about imposing term limits on members of Congress. He said a constitutional amendment would be required, citing a 1995 Supreme Court decision that rejected state-imposed term limits for members of Congress.

He questioned whether term limits would be effective but said he was open to discussing the issue.

"The founders would say we've had term limits for 250 years called elections," Higgins said. "We have term limits on the state level. It's debatable whether they've been effective or beneficial. I support debating it, but I ultimately defer to the anointed status of our Constitution."