GOP Colorado mayor says claims of 'gang-infested' city promoted by Trump 'simply not true'
The Republican mayor of Aurora, Colorado, pushed back Tuesday night against the "false" narrative pushed by former President Donald Trump that the Denver suburb has been taken over by Venezuelan gangs.
Trump name-dropped the city, along with Springfield, Ohio, as examples where illegal immigrants are terrorizing lawful citizens.
"We have millions of people pouring into our country from prisons and jails, from mental institutions and insane asylums," Trump said at the debate "… You see what's happening with towns throughout the United States. You look at Springfield, Ohio. You look at Aurora in Colorado. They are taking over the towns. They're taking over buildings. They're going in violently. These are the people that [Vice President Kamala Harris] and [President Joe Biden] let into our country. And they're destroying our country. They're dangerous. They're at the highest level of criminality."
Trump has also said, without evidence, that Venezuelan gangs are "taking over real estate in the city" with weapons that "even our military hasn't seen."
The claim stemmed from a real estate management company denying requests to repair buildings in the city, noted CNN anchor Laura Coates on her show Tuesday night.
"They claimed Venezuelan gangs had taken them over," she said. "That claim was then repeated by the mayor and then a city council member."
Mayor Mike Coffman told Fox News on Aug. 29 that there are "several buildings, actually under the same ownership, out-of-state ownership that have fallen to these Venezuelan gangs... They in fact have pushed out the property management through intimidation and collected the rents.”
A viral video then purportedly showed armed men in the apartment complex. When the mayor tried to walk back the claim, she said, the narrative already took hold.
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Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman joined "Laura Coates Live" and said that while the video was "chilling," he said the problem "doesn't exist" in the two apartment complexes referenced.
"To have the narrative that the entire city is overrun by Venezuelan gangs or the entire state, it's simply not true," said Coffman.
Trump's campaign has not reached out to Coffman about a potential visit, but he said with a laugh that he'd like the opportunity to show Trump the city and that "we're not, in fact, some gang-infested city."
"I think that the narrative is hurting us," he said, noting he's received calls from business leaders including a major hotel executive who asked whether the statements were true.
"Having a narrative that's out there that's false isn't helpful," he said.
Even so, Coffman said he has no regrets about how he portrayed the gang rumor from the outset.
"That's the way it was portrayed to me by the law enforcement," he said.