Trump mentions Aurora during presidential debate

DENVER (KDVR) — The candidates had not finished responding to the first question of Tuesday night’s debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump before Colorado was brought into the fold.

Harris and Trump were asked whether they thought the economy was in a better position than four years ago. Each candidate touted their policy goals in their response, while Trump also used his time to repeat the anti-immigration rhetoric that has often been the centerpiece of his political messaging.

Trump claimed that migrants “pouring” into the country were taking jobs and then mentioned Aurora, where reported gang crime in neglected apartment buildings has made national headlines and where officials have noted a presence of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang .

“And you see what’s happening. You see what’s happening with towns throughout the United States. You look at Springfield, Ohio . You look at Aurora, in Colorado,” Trump said. “They are taking over the towns. They are taking over buildings. They are going in violently. These are the people that she and Biden let into our country, and they’re destroying our country. They’re dangerous. They’re at the highest level of criminality. And we have to get them out. We have to get them out fast.”

On Wednesday, Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman and Council Member Danielle Jurinsky released a shared statement after Trump’s comments, which reads in part:

As for the perception and reality of public safety in Aurora, please understand that issues experienced at a select few properties do not apply to the city as a whole or large portions of it. TdA has not “taken over” the city. The overstated claims fueled by social media and through select news organizations are simply not true. Again, TdA’s presence in Aurora is limited to specific properties, all of which the city has been addressing in various ways for months.

For some time, well before concerns about TdA in Colorado generated national attention, APD had been arresting people for various criminal activities who had suspected, but not necessarily confirmed, TdA connections. To date, APD has now linked 10 people to TdA and has arrested eight of those people. Two of the eight individuals who were taken into custody were involved in a July shooting at one of the specific properties in the city that have experienced issues with TdA activity. In line with these arrests, we can also now confirm that criminal activity, including TdA issues, had significantly affected those properties.

New and more comprehensive information is linked here in a summary of documented members of TdA known to Aurora police to date that we encourage everyone to thoroughly review. APD and its partners will continue to make arrests, seize weapons, and collect evidence. They will keep working to put criminals in jail.

Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman and Council Member Danielle Jurinsky

This was not the first time Trump mentioned Aurora on the campaign trail. At a town hall last week , he repeated his call for mass deportations after claiming Venezuelans were “taking over” Aurora, even though police and city officials say any gang-related issues are isolated .

The Harris campaign released a statement about the issue last week after Trump brought it up at the rally.

“Donald Trump and JD Vance killed the strongest border security deal in decades for nothing but political gain,” reads a statement from the Colorado Harris-Walz campaign. “In contrast, Vice President Harris has a strong record taking on crime and bringing border crossings to a historic low. As President, she will go even further by bringing back and signing the border security deal Trump blocked.”

Harris and Trump met for the first time in Tuesday night’s debate in Philadelphia, hosted by ABC and simulcast across multiple networks including FOX31.

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