AURORA, Colo. — Former President Donald Trump says he will soon make a campaign stop in Aurora, which he has falsely claimed has been taken over by a Venezuelan gang.
Trump made the announcement during a campaign speech in Uniondale, New York on Wednesday night.
“I’m going to go there in the next two weeks,” Trump said. “I’m going to Springfield [Ohio], and I’m going to Aurora.”
The Trump campaign has pushed a false smear that Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio are eating cats and dogs. Trump recently said that his plan for the largest deportation in American history, to be carried out by local police forces, would begin in Aurora and Springfield.
Trump suggested that Aurora and Springfield are dangerous places.
“You may never see me again, but that’s OK,” Trump said. “I gotta do what I gotta do.”
“Whatever happened to Trump?” he said, to the cheers of his rally crowd. “Well, he never got out of Springfield.”
“We’re going to take care of Ohio, and we’re going to take care of Colorado,” Trump added.
Trump had hinted at a potential visit to Aurora.
Republican Congresswoman Lauren Boebert told KHOW radio on Tuesday that “there have been messages exchanged about him coming to Colorado.”
In a statement sent to 9NEWS Wednesday night, Boebert said in part, "I am thrilled to see President Trump announce he's coming to Colorado, where the influx of illegal aliens to places like Aurora and Denver has been unacceptable and unsustainable."
Aurora Councilwoman Crystal Murillo, who is a Democrat, sent a statement to 9NEWS saying, "When people show you who they are, believe them. We know who Trump is. [Danielle] Jurinsky has been showing us who she is. He can come here - based on lies. And it will serve as an opportunity for the people of Aurora to see who aligns with him and who does not. Who aligns with lies and who does not. Who aligns with hatred and who does not. When you have policies that help people, you do not need to engage in lies and vilify people."
Conservative Aurora City Councilmember Curtis Gardner, who pushed back against false claims about the Venezuelan gang, posted on X Wednesday night, "Hard pass on him using Aurora again."
Springfield's Republican Mayor has pushed back on the idea of a Trump visit.
“It would be an extreme strain on our resources. So, it’d be fine with me if they decided not to make that visit,” Mayor Rob Rue said, according to NBC News.
There's been no similar pushback from Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman, who is also a Republican.
Earlier on Wednesday, 9NEWS asked the city of Aurora if it was prepared for a potential visit by Trump.
“We cannot speculate on the logistics of a presidential candidate’s possible visit but would work with their respective teams as we would at any other time,” city spokesperson Ryan Luby said.
Trump has increasingly focused on false and misleading claims about Aurora and Springfield to highlight his plans to deport more than 20 million people.
Trump said at a recent rally in Wisconsin that dislodging the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua from Aurora “will be a bloody story.”
After Trump used the Sept. 9 presidential debate to repeat claims that the city of Aurora had been taken over by the gang, city leaders and Aurora Police released a joint statement saying that the gang’s impact was isolated to a few properties.
Since first acknowledging the local presence of the gang, Tren de Aragua, in early August, Aurora Police said they have identified ten suspected TdA members and arrested nine of them.
