CNN
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A Democratic House candidate in New Mexico, campaigning as a moderate in a hotly contested race, deleted tweets attacking the oil and gas industry, rationalizing the summer 2020 riots and comparing the Trump administration to the Ku Klux Klan.

Deleted tweets reviewed by CNN’s KFile about the oil and gas industry could prove problematic for Gabe Vasquez, a former city councilman running against incumbent Republican Representative Yvette Herrell in New Mexico’s Second Congressional District. The energy-rich region is among the most active oil and gas producing area in America.

Vasquez, who has promoted himself in interviews during his campaign as a supporter of the region’s fossil fuel industry, calling it “incredibly important”, has previously called it “extremely toxic”. and “irresponsible” in since-deleted comments on social media.

Inside Elections rates the race as a draw, and it’s one of 19 such races right now that could determine control of the House of Representatives in November.

In a statement to CNN on Thursday, Vazquez did not address the deleted tweets but said, “I’ve always been clear: I don’t think defunding the police is a path to a fair criminal justice system. C That’s why, as a member of the Las Cruces council, I voted to increase police funding by millions and worked directly with our police chief to improve community policing….I will always push New Mexico’s oil and gas workers first, supporting responsible fossil fuel development that protects their health, wages, and future. At the same time, I will hold accountable oil and gas companies that don’t pay their fair share and pollute our public lands.

Vasquez has also portrayed himself as a police supporter in advertisements. But he deleted a tweet rationalizing riots in cities following the 2020 killing of George Floyd. Vasquez has repeatedly said he opposes defunding the police, but suggested he supported such a policy while speaking with a local station during a protest in 2020 – while wearing a face mask and without giving his name. “We need serious police reform in this country,” he said in the clip. “It’s not just about defunding the police, it’s about defunding a system that privileges white people over everyone else.”

A campaign spokesperson told Politico that Vasquez did not give his name because he wanted the focus to be on the protest organizers.

“The tip of the spear of a white supremacist system ends in the cold-blooded, state-sanctioned killing of black individuals,” the now deleted tweet from May 2020 read. “There is so much to undo, to unravel this system and change power structures to fundamentally change this country. This is why cars and buildings burn.

Since winning the Democratic nomination for New Mexico’s second congressional district in June, Vasquez has said he supports protecting the oil and gas industry in New Mexico and that renewable energy should not not come at the expense of the state’s fossil fuel industry. The district is home to part of the Permian Basin, one of the largest and most active sources of fossil fuel production in the country.

“I think the oil and gas industry is extremely important to New Mexico,” Vasquez told the local Carlsbad Current-Argus in August. “It’s extremely important to this district, and I think it supports an economy that’s not just based on fossil fuel extraction, but also the small businesses that support that industry.”

But in several since-deleted tweets, Vasquez made the case for opposing fracking, the Green New Deal. and the “Extremely Toxic Fossil Fuel Industry.”

“To my fellow Dems, let’s avoid playing the R’s talking points and playing their turf! It’s OK to oppose fracking, OK to support the Green New Deal, OK to support insurance- disease for all, OK to talk about progressive immigration reform, OK to stand up for what you believe in. #StayStrong,” the tweet since deleted of November 2020 reads.

Another one tweet since deleted added: ‘Investing in oil and gas is irresponsible’, in connection with an opinion piece calling fossil fuels a ‘dying industry’.

Vasquez also deleted tweets with inflammatory rhetoric about race, including those that compared the Trump administration to the Ku Klux Klan.

In a deleted tweet from December 2020, Vasquez criticized the criminal justice system and used the hashtag “AmeriKKKa”, invoking the Klan.

“The pardoning of wealthy white men who should be in prison is a damning reflection of how justice is done in this country. White and privileged people escape justice, while the poor, black, indigenous and people of color are disproportionately targeted, convicted and imprisoned #AmeriKKKa,” he wrote.

In another deleted tweet from August 2020, Vasquez again criticized the criminal justice system after the Justice Department accused leaders of the “We Build the Wall” fundraising campaign of defrauding hundreds of thousands. of Trump supporters.

“Pendejos. The racists of MAGA have been swindled, Trump’s army of crooks will likely be pardoned, miles of private border wall will crumble from erosion, and racial tensions will continue to escalate. No one will take the responsibility. Trump’s AmeriKKKa. What a disgusting mess,” Vasquez tweeted.

Then-President Donald Trump pardoned one of the defendants – his ally and former adviser Steve Bannon – but two other defendants pleaded guilty and another was vacated.

And on Jan. 6, 2021, Vasquez blamed the Capitol riot on white nationalism in a now-deleted tweet.

“We see the monster that is white nationalism physically manifesting itself on the steps of the nation’s capital [sic]. It’s always been there, but it’s been hidden in legislation, in congressional offices, and in courtrooms. We always knew it was there. Today we see his many faces,” Vasquez tweeted at 3:50 p.m.

In other deleted tweets from November 2020, Vasquez attacked a commenter who was against canceling student loans, writing, “Oh, you mean this American economy is suddenly not fair to the white man? What will you ever do? »

In another he attacked the election of people of color who didn’t “think like us”, saying they were “vendidos who claimed to be part of the white establishment”. “Sales” is a Spanish term that implies that someone is a “sold”.