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A House Democrat running for re-election in a battleground district previously said his home state was "stolen land" and claimed racism was "embedded" into nearly everything, according to a resurfaced video reviewed by Fox News Digital.
"We are on stolen land," Rep. Gabe Vasquez, N.M., said in 2020 before entering Congress during an interview with a New Mexico-based outlet. He added the land used to be Mexican territory and before that was inhabited by Native Americans.
"Just about every part of life that we experience has some racism embedded into it," Vasquez continued. "I have become less optimistic about where this country stands in terms of being able to eradicate racism, because it is intergenerational. It is passed on. It is embedded into our system."
Vasquez, who is seeking a third term in November, made the remarks while serving as a city councilmember of Las Cruces — the largest city in his southwestern New Mexico district. He entered Congress in January 2023 after defeating a Republican incumbent while positioning himself as a moderate.
Vasquez also suggested that he was open to replacing some of the city’s police officers with licensed psychologists and clinicians to respond to certain events during the interview.
"Those are the types of things that I'm committed to supporting, where if we do have to take budget away from a specific department, whether you know, it be police or otherwise," Vasquez said, adding that he believed it was unnecessary with the current budget.
"If we don't need those positions anymore, if we don't need those budget line items anymore, then we need to get rid of them," he continued. "And that's a decision I'm happy to try to champion at the city council."
Vasquez in 2020 appeared to justify rioting following the death of George Floyd, CNN’s KFile first reported. He also voiced support for the defund the police movement while using a pseudonym during an interview with a local outlet at a Black Lives Matter protest that year.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) said Vasquez has been an unequivocal supporter of law enforcement during his House tenure in a statement to Fox News Digital.
"Rep. Vasquez has supported increased funding for law enforcement for his entire political career, including over $4 billion for state and local police as Congressman just this year," DCCC spokesperson Anna Elsasser said.
The New Mexico Democrat has joined the majority of House Democrats in refusing to fund federal immigration enforcement absent reforms, including the tightening of warrant requirements and prohibiting officers from wearing masks.
The Republican National Committee sharply criticized Vasquez’s prior comments in a statement to Fox News Digital.
"Gabe Vasquez is a truly sick individual who may have a terminal case of the woke mind virus," RNC spokesman Zach Kraft said in a statement. "He should get the help he needs to realize how insane it is to call every single American racist, and he should be nowhere near Congress."
Vasquez is a top target of national Republicans, who are mounting a second attempt to unseat him after he improved his performance in 2024 despite Trump carrying the district.
The nonpartisan Cook Political Report shifted the race from "toss-up" to "lean Democrat" in January, citing President Donald Trump's declining job approval and Democrats’ strong electoral performance in 2025.
Fox News Digital reached out to Vasquez’s campaign for comment.
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