Vance Blasts ABC Host For Trivializing Violent Gang Invasion

Vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance blasted ABC’s Martha Raddatz on Sunday after she tried defending the invasion at the southern border that has led to violent gangs taking over entire apartment complexes.

Former President Donald Trump vowed Friday during a rally in Aurora, Colorado, to launch “Operation Aurora” to remove members of the Tren de Aragua gang, which has taken over apartment complexes in the state. Republican Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman released a statement shortly after Trump’s rally saying that the city has not been “taken over” by “migrant gangs” before acknowledging “incidents” at “a handful of specific apartment complexes.”

During Sunday’s episode of ABC’s “This Week,” Raddatz tried to defend the violent gang invasion after Vance noted that Coffman’s statement was nonetheless an acknowledgment of an issue to some degree.

“Sen. Vance, I’m going to stop you because I know exactly what happened,” Raddatz said. “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.”

“Only? Martha, do you hear yourself?” Vance fired back. “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? 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,” Vance continued. “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 —” Raddatz tried to interject.

“They bragged about opening the border and now we have the consequences and we’re living with it,” Vance continued. “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.”

“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 —” Raddatz said.

“A few apartment complexes, no big deal,” Vance sarcastically shot back.

Notably, despite Coffman and Raddatz pretending that the issue isn’t that serious because it’s “only” a few apartment complexes, the city nonetheless launched an entire task force dedicated to combatting Tren de Aragua.

The New York Post reports that “members of the violent Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua … have been using various dilapidated apartment complexes … as their home base” in Aurora, noting the city has identified at least 10 suspected members of Tren de Aragua in the city.

After Vance made a fool out of Raddatz, ABC News continued seething, with the outlet’s Hannah Demissie providing additional propaganda with an article entitled: “Vance stands by Trump’s false claims about Venezuelan gangs in Aurora, Colorado.”

Three men were arrested and charged in September after a video showing armed men breaking into an apartment went viral, according to the Post. While local cops claimed none of the men were affiliated with the gang — you know, the same cops that Coffman and Raddatz said were handling the situation — federal law enforcement sources confirmed to The Post that at least one of the men “admitted that he’s a member of the violence Venezuelan gang …”

The other two suspects “crossed the border illegally last year and were quickly released into the US,” The Post reported, citing anonymous sources. The Post noted there “is no confirmed evidence” that the two suspects are members of Tren de Aragua.

But it doesn’t even matter whether these two men are affiliated with Tren de Aragua. What matters is that the Biden-Harris let violent criminals into the country who are now not only endangering Americans, but forcing taxpayers to cough up extra just so they can be safe from people who shouldn’t be here in the first place.

Brianna Lyman is an elections correspondent at The Federalist. Brianna graduated from Fordham University with a degree in International Political Economy. Her work has been featured on Newsmax, Fox News, Fox Business and RealClearPolitics. Follow Brianna on X: @briannalyman2