Very like 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 most likely would have most well-liked actuality TV fame to a seat in Congress.
In 2015, whereas a Louisiana police officer, he grabbed some nationwide consideration by a collection 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 chief producer of “Duck Dynasty.”
Captain Higgins additionally had a whole lot of 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 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 taking part in cops. The following month, Higgins resigned. Then he launched “Higgins Experience Alongside 2” on the Captain Clay Higgins YouTube channel — taking part in a cop.
Within the YouTube video, a digicam adopted Higgins as he drove a muscle automotive down the freeway. He was carrying a cutoff that sarcastically showcased a scarcity of definition. The black patch on the bag going through the digicam 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 said, while claiming more than 20 television executives had reached out to him. “I’m not going to be no clown, I can let you know 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 running for Congress. He wished to be wealthy and well-known earlier than he wished 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 the easiest way to maintain folks speaking about you is to provide them one thing to speak about.
Even when it encourages violence or is racist.
Contemplate this: This January, Higgins said, “feds are staging a civil battle, 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 Individuals” by the FBI.
After deleting his current racist put up concerning the immigrants in Springfield — which started, “Lol. These Haitians are wild,” earlier than descending into a lot worse — Higgins later mentioned, “You by no means wish to deliberately harm somebody’s emotions.”
Which brings us to his profession as an officer and why he was pressured to resign.
In one in all his “Crime Stoppers” movies, he refers to alleged members of a gang sought by authorities as animals. He describes the investigation as a hunt during which the suspects wanted to be trapped. The people proven on the display 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 fireplace him for the pages and pages of emails’ price of non-public enterprise. Higgins was additionally accused of attacking an unarmed Black man whereas an officer.
So, this isn’t nearly emotions being harm. It’s concerning the character of a person who has been given an excessive amount of energy. Republicans positioned Higgins on committees concerning civil rights, authorities accountability and border safety — with full data of every thing you simply examine his background. Rep. Mike Johnson, fellow Louisiana Republican, known as Higgins a good friend. Some “good friend”; Higgins didn’t assist Johnson to grow to be Home speaker by the primary three rounds of voting. In reality John A. Boehner, who had left Congress greater than 10 years in the past and have become a lobbyist for the marijuana industry, obtained a vote for the speakership earlier than Republicans finally landed on Johnson. And that was solely as a result of Trump instructed MAGA Republicans they had been making the occasion look unhealthy.
So to cling to his job, Johnson has to faux Higgins is an effective member of Congress, whereas Higgins is pretending he truly needs to be there.
If solely he had gotten that TV present as an alternative.
