‘Do You Hear Yourself?’: Vance Hammers ABC’s Raddatz for Criticizing Trump over Aurora, CO Venezuelan Gang Problem

During Sunday’s broadcast of ABC’s “This Week,” Sen. JD Vance (R-OH), the Republican vice-presidential nominee, responded to host Martha Raddatz’s criticism of former President Donald Trump’s attacks on Biden-Harris immigration policy and for attributing a Venezuelan gang problem in Aurora, CO to that policy.

Vance questioned Raddatz for attacking Trump when she admitted Venezuelan gangs overran apartment complexes.

Partial transcript as follows:

RADDATZ: — Senator Vance, I’m just going to say that local officials — local officials and FEMA officials say that is just flat wrong.

But I want to — we played some other comments about migrants and migrants including in Aurora, in Colorado, where Trump said the city had been invaded and conquered by Venezuelan gangs. The Republican mayor of the city said flatly, the city and state have not been taken over or invaded or occupied by migrant gangs.

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.

VANCE: Well, Martha, you just said the mayor said they were exaggerated.

RADDATZ: Grossly exaggerated.

VANCE: That means there’s got to be some — that means there’s got to be some element of truth here.

And, of course, President Trump was actually in Aurora, Colorado, talking to people on the ground and what we’re hearing, of course, Martha, is that people are terrified by what has happened with some of these Venezuelan gangs.

(CROSSTALK)

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 complex — 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: OK. 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.

RADDATZ: A few apartment complexes that the mayor did not see was invading the entire city.

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