A Republican Party press release attacking New Mexico Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D-NM02) for claiming the congressman supports Hamas fighters appears to be based on a fabricated quote.
On May 16, the National Republican Campaign Committee, the GOP’s national campaign arm, posted a press release using quotes and the statement “I support Hamas” with Vasquez’s name.
Later in the release, the RNCC uses the quote again saying: “Nothing says ‘I support Hamas’ like withholding help from Israel.”
Vasquez, however, does not appear to have ever said those words. Nothing turned up in a review of Vasquez’s campaign and official office statements on the Israel-Hamas war.
When asked to confirm the quote attributed to him, Vasquez explicitly denounced it as false.
“Outrageous and slanderous – par for the course for a dishonest party and candidate. I did not make the comment they claimed I did,” Vasquez tells The Paper. in a statement Friday. “They’re now fabricating their own quotes. I have repeatedly condemned Hamas and everything it stands for.”
The NRCC post with the misleading title was replicated against other members of the U.S. House Democratic Caucus who voted to approve military aid shipments to Israel but signed a letter to President Biden earlier this month encouraging him to threaten delay some deliveries to Israel if they proceeded with actions that had resulted in high civilian casualties.
The NRCC is supporting former Rep. Yvette Herrell against Vasquez in the November election. New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District is ranked as one of the most competitive in the country and could weigh heavily in determining partisan control of the U.S. House of Representatives next year. Republicans currently have a one seat majority have made New Mexico’s 2nd District a national “pick-up” priority for Republicans.
The NRCC press contact listed did not return our requests for comment on the misleading post by press time.