Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance challenged Martha Raddatz on Sunday morning over a fact-check on former President Donald Trump’s claims that criminal migrant gangs had taken over a Colorado city.
On ABC’s This Week, the Republican senator from Ohio fired back in response to a comment by Raddatz that only a “handful” of Aurora apartment complexes had seen Venezuelan gang activity.
Trump has been accused of overstating the dangers members of the gang Tren de Aragua posed to the city. At a rally in Aurora on Friday evening, Trump vowed to go after criminal migrants nationwide and to name the operation to send them to their native countries after the city in what he called “Operation Aurora.”
Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman, a Republican, issued a statement condemning Trump after the rally.
On This week, Raddatz asked Vance about the issue.
“So, do you support Donald Trump making those claims that the Republican mayor says were grossly exaggerated and have hurt the city’s identity and sense of safety?” she asked. “I understand what you’re saying that some people left behind. But he’s making these statements that the mayor is flat-out disputing.”
Vance argued that Coffman’s claim there was an “exaggeration” meant there was some smoke to the fire. He and Raddatz then engaged in a tense discussion on the topic in the following exchange:
RADDATZ: Senator Vance, I’m going to stop you because I know exactly what happened. I’m going to stop you. The incidents were limited to a handful of apartment complexes – apartment complexes and the mayor said our dedicated police officers have acted on those concerns. A handful of problems.
VANCE: Only, Martha, do you hear yourself? Only a handful of apartment complexes in America were taken over by Venezuelan gangs, and Donald Trump is the problem and not Kamala Harris’s open border? Americans are so fed up with what’s going on and they have every right to be and I really find this exchange, Martha, sort of interesting because you seem to be more focused with nitpicking everything that Donald Trump has said rather than acknowledging that apartment complexes in the United States of America are being taken over by violent gangs. I worry so much more about that problem than anything else here. We’ve got to get American communities in a safe space again. And unfortunately, when you let people in by the millions, most of whom are unvetted, most of whom you don’t know who they really are, you’re going to have problems like this. Kamala Harris’ 94 executive orders that undid Donald Trump’s successful border policies, we knew this stuff would happen.
RADDATZ: That’s –.
VANCE: They bragged about opening the border and now we have the consequences and we’re living with it. We can do so much better, but frankly, we’re not going to do better, Martha, unless Donald Trump calls this stuff out. I’m glad that he did.
RADDATZ: Okay. Let’s – let’s just – let’s just end that with they did not invade or take over the city as Donald Trump said. I want to move on to just –
VANCE: A few apartment complexes, no big deal.
Watch above via ABC News.
Have a tip for us? tips@mediaite.com
Local News
