Louisiana Republican Representative Clay Higgins was called out after he announced he would use his "Congressional authority" to get anyone who "belittled" far-right activist Charlie Kirk's assassination banned from all social media platforms for life—only to be quickly reminded of his own reaction to the attack on Paul Pelosi, the husband of Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi.
Kirk died Wednesday after an unidentified gunman shot him in the neck as he mocked victims of gun violence at an event in Utah Valley State University. Kirk's murder galvanized President Donald Trump and his supporters, who've claimed without evidence that rhetoric from Democrats is responsible for Kirk's death.
Higgins, incensed over what he sees as a blatant mockery of the shooting, took to social media to announce the following:
"I’m going to use Congressional authority and every influence with big tech platforms to mandate immediate ban for life of every post or commenter that belittled the assassination of Charlie Kirk."
"If they ran their mouth with their smartass hatred celebrating the heinous murder of that beautiful young man who dedicated his whole life to delivering respectful conservative truth into the hearts of liberal enclave universities, armed only with a Bible and a microphone and a Constitution… those profiles must come down."
"So, I’m going to lean forward in this fight, demanding that big tech have zero tolerance for violent political hate content, the user to be banned from ALL PLATFORMS FOREVER."
"I’m also going after their business licenses and permitting, their businesses will be blacklisted aggressively, they should be kicked from every school, and their drivers licenses should be revoked. I’m basically going to cancel with extreme prejudice these evil, sick animals who celebrated Charlie Kirk’s assassination."
"I'm starting that today. That is all."
You can see his post below.
But Higgins appeared to have forgotten how he'd mocked then-House Speaker Pelosi and her husband following the attack that nearly cost him his life.
Paul Pelosi was attacked with a hammer at the couple's residence in the Pacific Heights neighborhood of San Francisco, California, in October of 2022. He was seriously injured and underwent surgery for a fractured skull; his doctors expect him to make a full recovery.
42-year-old David DePape was arrested at the scene on suspicion of attempted homicide and other felonies. He had intended to harm Speaker Pelosi and yelled, "Where is Nancy, where is Nancy?" during the attack, according to police who arrested DePape at the scene.
DePape had embraced far-right political conspiracy theories including QAnon, Pizzagate, ideas related to COVID-19 vaccine misinformation, and Holocaust denial. While Speaker Pelosi was the original target of the attack that ended with DePape's arrest, she was just one target on a list that included California Governor Gavin Newsom and Academy Award-winning actor Tom Hanks.
And Higgins was quickly reminded that he himself had made light of political violence when he tweeted—and later deleted—a picture of Nancy Pelosi holding her hands to her face and writing:
“The moment you realize a nudist hippie male prostitute LSD guy was the reason your husband didn’t make it to your fundraiser.”
You can see it below.
@RepClayHiggins/X
Higgins' claim is patently false, yet mirrored recent behavior from billionaire Elon Musk, who shortly after acquiring Twitter shared an article from the far-right Santa Monica Observer claiming that Pelosi was attacked by a lover he met at a bar in the middle of the night.
There is no truth to that allegation, and local authorities confirmed that Paul Pelosi and his attacker did not know each other.
He was swiftly called out for his hypocrisy.
For all of his anger about the shooting that killed Kirk, Higgins seems to have also forgotten the time he, following a mass shooting that killed six at a Tennessee school, said "gun violence" doesn't exist and there is only "human violence."
Higgins also claimed that the leading cause of death for children in the United States is abortion, and accused Democrats of repeatedly mentioning that gun violence is the top cause of death for children in America.
Republicans have thus far declined to answer questions about how much responsibility they bare for not advocating for gun reform, with South Carolina Representative Nancy Mace responding "Are you kidding me?" when questioned by one reporter after Kirk's death.
@thekalenallen/Threads
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