Speaking on Sunday, October 13, with ABC News’s Martha Raddatz on ABC’s “This Week,” Senator and 2024 Trump running mate JD Vance argued in support of former President Donald Trump’s comments about a Venezuelan migrant gang members’ presence in apartment buildings in Aurora, Colorado, a story that took the country by storm.
The spat occurred because Trump, when speaking in Aurora, said, “We will send elite squads of ICE, Border Patrol, and federal law enforcement officers to hunt down, arrest and deport every last illegal alien gang member until there is not a single one left in this country. And if they come back into our country, they will be told it is an automatic 10-year sentence in jail with no possibility of parole.”
Raddatz, broaching the subject on her show, asked, “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? I understand what you’re saying that some people left behind. But he’s making these statements that the mayor is flat-out disputing.”
Then, when Vance argued that the mayor’s comments indicate there is an issue, Raddatz freaked out, snapping, “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.”
Sen. Vance then noted how wild it is to say that “only a handful” of apartment complexes were taken over by a violent migrant gang, saying, “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?”
Continuing, he noted that Americans are upset over the situation and that it is interesting the media is minimizing it, saying, “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.”
He then argued that that problem, the one of American safety and potential danger posed by violent foreign gangs, should be the preeminnet concern, saying, “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.”
Sen. Vance then continued, saying he’s glad Trump drew attention to the issue. He said, “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 snapped, “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 –” Sen. Vance, mocking her attempt to minimize the problem of a foreign gang taking over apartment complexes, saying, “A few apartment complexes, no big deal.”
Watch their spat here:
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