Very similar to his spirit animal, Donald Trump, Rep. Clay Higgins first sought actuality TV earlier than taking his shtick to Washington.
And had “American Justice With Clay Higgins” taken off, possibly the folks in Springfield, Ohio, would have one much less member of Congress utilizing their small city to drive racists to the polls, as with his since-deleted tweet calling Haitian immigrants “thugs” and “gangsters.”
And be not mistaken, Higgins himself in all probability would have most popular actuality TV fame to a seat in Congress.
In 2015, whereas a Louisiana police officer, he grabbed some nationwide consideration by means of a sequence of campy on-line movies known as “Crime Stoppers.” That style of fame captured his creativeness, and by 2016 Higgins had each a nickname — “Cajun John Wayne” — and curiosity from the manager producer of “Duck Dynasty.”
Captain Higgins additionally had numerous work emails that confirmed him negotiating private look charges and merchandising alternatives throughout firm time. That wasn’t the one purpose he was pressured to resign. We’ll get to that later. Simply know that when he was now not a police officer, the “Duck Dynasty” alternative fell aside.
In January 2016, the movie “Experience Alongside 2” got here out, with Ice Dice and Kevin Hart enjoying cops. The subsequent month, Higgins resigned. Then he launched “Higgins Experience Alongside 2” on the Captain Clay Higgins YouTube channel — enjoying a cop.
Within the YouTube video, a digital camera adopted Higgins as he drove a muscle automobile down the freeway. He was sporting a cutoff that mockingly showcased a scarcity of definition. The black patch on the bag going through the digital camera learn “SHERIFF,” although Higgins by no means was one. Then once more, Higgins embraced “Cajun John Wayne,” and he’s not Cajun.
“Is it going to be a tv present? I don’t know,” he stated, whereas claiming greater than 20 tv executives had reached out to him. “I’m not going to be no clown, I can inform you that. It’s going to hold my message that’s righteous or it’s not going to exist.”
In Could 2016, Higgins had a gun in his holster and wore a shirt with sleeves when he introduced he was operating for Congress. He needed to be wealthy and well-known earlier than he needed to serve in Congress, and this bid for the Home was a last-ditch effort to salvage what remained of his quarter-hour of fame. He understands, very like Trump, that one of the simplest ways to maintain folks speaking about you is to present them one thing to speak about.
Even when it encourages violence or is racist.
Think about this: This January, Higgins stated, “feds are staging a civil conflict, and Texas ought to stand their floor” after a Supreme Court docket ruling sided with the U.S. Structure. In April, Higgins was heard on a conservative podcast claiming the Trump-inspired Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol “was a nefarious agenda to entrap MAGA People” by the FBI.
After deleting his latest racist put up in regards to the immigrants in Springfield — which started, “Lol. These Haitians are wild,” earlier than descending into a lot worse — Higgins later stated, “You by no means need to deliberately harm somebody’s emotions.”
Which brings us to his profession as an officer and why he was pressured to resign.
In considered one of his “Crime Stoppers” movies, he refers to alleged members of a gang sought by authorities as animals. He describes the investigation as a hunt by which the suspects wanted to be trapped. The people proven on the display screen had been predominantly Black and brown. After Higgins resigned, he capitalized on a rumor that the video had pressured his resignation — as if he had been a sufferer of “political correctness.” That false impression helped gas Higgins’s late entry into the sphere in 2016 and made him a member of Congress.
The reality is the sheriff was going to fireside him for the pages and pages of emails’ value of private enterprise. Higgins was additionally accused of attacking an unarmed Black man whereas an officer.
So, this isn’t nearly emotions being harm. It’s in regards to the character of a person who has been given an excessive amount of energy. Republicans positioned Higgins on committees relating to civil rights, authorities accountability and border safety — with full information of all the pieces you simply examine his background. Rep. Mike Johnson, fellow Louisiana Republican, known as Higgins a buddy. Some “buddy”; Higgins didn’t help Johnson to develop into Home speaker by means of the primary three rounds of voting. Actually John A. Boehner, who had left Congress greater than 10 years in the past and have become a lobbyist for the marijuana business, acquired a vote for the speakership earlier than Republicans finally landed on Johnson. And that was solely as a result of Trump informed MAGA Republicans they had been making the occasion look unhealthy.
So to cling to his job, Johnson has to fake Higgins is an efficient member of Congress, whereas Higgins is pretending he really needs to be there.
If solely he had gotten that TV present as a substitute.
