New Mexico Congressman Exposed for Allegedly Using Racial Slur In Resurfaced Phone Call Claims It’s a ‘Categorically False’ Attack By Political Opponent
A House Democrat representing New Mexico is under scrutiny following the release of past police reports revealing he used a racial slur during a phone call to a former employer’s call center, received marijuana citations and was involved in domestic disputes with an ex-girlfriend.
New Mexico Rep. Gabe Vasquez, known for his youthful indiscretions, was a college student in 2004 when he made a call to a human resources employee at a Las Cruces, New Mexico, call center. Conservative outlet the Free Beacon obtained the police reports, which Vasquez’s name is redacted from, but the Beacon reports a custodian confirmed to it that Vasquez was the caller.
The report alleges that during the call, Vasquez asked to speak with an individual named Chris, and when asked for clarification, Vasquez used a racial slur. “Chris the n—er,” Vasquez told the employee. The employee subsequently left a message for Vasquez, stating her intention to report the incident to the police.
However, Vasquez, who faced attacks from his Republican opponent Yvette Herrell over the racist comments, denied the allegations in a statement to the DailyMail. “I have not and would never use language like this. This attack is categorically false,” Vasquez said. “This is another example of how desperate Republicans are lying about my character rather than focusing on delivering for New Mexico.”
“Absolutely disgusting conduct,” Herrell said via X. “Let’s hold Gabe Vasquez accountable in November! #NM02”
The employee, who requested anonymity to discuss the incident, confirmed the employment of the human resources staffer who filed the 2004 police report, as reported by the Free Beacon. The employee said that the staffer spent “a couple years” at Research Data Design.
In the police report, the human resources staffer said Vasquez “had been calling harassing employees” after he was “terminated for cause for falsifying data” on July 20, 2004.
Nine days later, he called “research data design and she answered the phone. She stated that the person asked, ‘Is Chris there?’ she said. ‘Who, which Chris?’ as apparently there are a number of Chrises there and he said, ‘Chris the N—er,’ and she hung up. She stated that shortly thereafter, another telephone call was received by another employee who was asked for Chris, and he said, ‘Chris who?’ and the reply was ‘Chris the Black man,’” the police report says.
“He stated that the person who he recognized as then began laughing and hung up. They immediately did a reverse search on the telephone, and the telephone number came up as [Vasquez]…and when they researched it, it came up to [Vasquez], who they know as the former employee that was, in fact, terminated.”
According to the report, the human resources employee called Vasquez back “and told him on the answering machine that they were, in fact, going to report it to the police department. “They have not had any calls since.
Meanwhile, Vasquez noted that the accusations surfaced shortly after a video of Herrell advocating for a total abortion ban in New Mexico, even in cases of rape and incest, was made public, according to the DailyMail.
Vasquez’s college years at New Mexico State University from 2002 to 2008 were not without controversy. He received two criminal citations in 2005 for possession of marijuana and paraphernalia.
On one occasion, police responded to a noise complaint at Vasquez’s residence and observed him preparing marijuana. In another incident, bike patrol officers found Vasquez and his underage friends in a car, appearing drunk and smelling of marijuana.
Many people took to social media to denounce Vasquez for his past racist comments.
“This is unacceptable behavior from a Member of Congress. Gabe Vasquez clearly has a problem with authority and this pattern of behavior shows he is unfit to serve. Do Hakeem Jeffries and Vasquez’s House colleagues agree?” National Republican Congressional Committee Spokeswoman Delanie Bomar said in a written statement.
Vasquez responded: “The @NRCC and @Yvette4congress are attacking me over a traffic ticket when I was a kid that’s been resolved. Arrested? Nope. Try harder. I’m going to keep fighting for #NM02 and deliver federal funds to law enforcement that Yvette never delivered.”
In a 2007 police report detailing a domestic dispute, Vasquez advised his girlfriend, who had just turned 21, “not to drink so much because she just turned 21 and she gets kind of wild when she drinks,” according to the Free Beacon. The report further notes that Vasquez “noticed that she kept drinking and after having a few too many she began getting a little wild and dancing around in front of his friends.” After confronting her, an argument broke out, leading to a police visit to his home “in reference to a possible domestic [crime].”