In a fiery exchange on ABC’s This Week, GOP vice presidential candidate Sen. J.D. Vance and host Martha Raddatz clashed over the presence of Venezuelan migrant gang members in Aurora, Colorado.
The debate stemmed from recent arrests linked to the violent Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) after footage surfaced of heavily armed men breaking into an apartment complex. Vance, defending Donald Trump’s previous statements about migrant gang activity in the area, took issue with Raddatz’s attempt to downplay the situation.
Raddatz interrupted Vance, insisting that the incidents were isolated to “a handful of apartment complexes” and that local police had already responded to the concerns. She emphasized that Aurora had not been “invaded” as Trump had claimed during a rally. “Let’s just end that with they did not invade or take over the city as Donald Trump said,” Raddatz said.
Vance shot back, clearly frustrated with her characterization of the issue. “Martha, do you hear yourself?” he asked. “Only a handful of apartment complexes in America were taken over by Venezuelan gangs, and Donald Trump is the problem and not Kamala Harris’ open border?” He argued that Americans are rightfully “fed up” with the state of public safety in their communities, emphasizing that incidents like these stem from lax border policies.
Vance continued, highlighting the broader implications of uncontrolled immigration: “When you let people in by the millions, most of whom are unvetted…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, in turn, reiterated that Trump’s claim of a citywide takeover was exaggerated, citing Aurora’s Republican Mayor Mike Coffman, who had already pushed back on Trump’s rhetoric. In a statement following Trump’s rally, Coffman said, “The concerns about Venezuelan gang activity in our city—and our state—have been grossly exaggerated.”
Coffman noted that the incidents, while serious, were confined to a few apartment complexes and that police were actively addressing the situation. He reassured residents that Aurora, a city of 400,000, had not been “invaded” by migrant gangs as Trump suggested.
The exchange encapsulates the broader political debate around immigration and public safety, with Vance seizing the moment to underscore the dangers he believes stem from the Biden administration’s border policies.
For Vance and the Trump campaign, the rise in gang-related incidents is a direct consequence of what they describe as the “open border” policies championed by Vice President Kamala Harris. Meanwhile, Raddatz and local officials like Coffman maintain that the problem, while serious, has been blown out of proportion, particularly by Trump’s incendiary language.
