Sen. JD Vance appeared on ABC’s "This Week" Sunday morning, during which Martha Raddatz attempted to downplay concerns about Venezuelan gangs taking over apartment complexes in Aurora, Colo.
It did not go well for Raddatz.
The conversation took a turn when Raddatz tried to brush off the issue by labeling it as “a handful of apartment complexes,” but Vance wasn’t having any of it.
At the heart of the exchange was Raddatz’s pushback on Donald Trump’s remarks about violent gangs in American communities, which the mayor of Aurora, Colorado, has downplayed. Raddatz couldn’t quite get her narrative straight, however.
“He's making these statements that the mayor is flat out disputing,” Raddatz said of Trump.
But Vance, quick to catch the spin, responded: “Well, Martha, you just said the mayor said they were exaggerated,” to which Raddatz attempted to cover herself, by saying they were “roughly exaggerated.”
Vance immediately pointed out the flaw in this dismissal: “There's gotta 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.”
And that’s when Raddatz really stepped in it.
“Senator Vance, I'm gonna stop you because I know exactly what happened,” she claimed. “I'm gonna stop you. The incidents were limited to a handful of apartment conflicts apartment complexes, and the mayor said our dedicated police officers have acted on those concerns. A handful of problems.”
And that’s when Vance pounced.
“Only, Martha, do you hear yourself?" he said. "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.” Vance’s frustration was palpable as he pointed to the broader issue of America’s border crisis and the consequences of millions of unvetted migrants entering the country. "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."
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In one of the most memorable lines of the interview, Vance laid out the stakes clearly: “I worry so much more about that problem than anything else here… we’ve got to get American communities in a safe space again.”
Vance continued:
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. That's that's 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 gonna do better, Martha, unless Donald Trump calls this stuff out. I'm glad that he did.
Raddatz, clearly uncomfortable with Vance’s pointed critiques, attempted to steer the conversation back, stating that “the mayor did not seem [to think] they were invading the entire city.”
That’s when Vance landed the final blow, sarcastically quipping, “A few apartment complexes. No big deal.”
Clearly desperate to move on, Raddatz then pivoted to "women and abortion."
“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’ open border?...You seem to be more focused with nitpicking” Trump – @JDVance to @MarthaRaddatz #ThisWeek pic.twitter.com/7Qe3EU0g48
— Brent Baker 🇺🇦 🇮🇱 (@BrentHBaker) October 13, 2024
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