With just 25 days until Election Day, former President Donald Trump made a surprising stop in Colorado on Friday, drawing thousands to the Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center in Aurora.
"We're here finally in Aurora, Colorado, with all the attention and unfortunately it has the world's attention," Trump said.
The event focused heavily on immigration and sits just miles away from apartment complexes that Trump claimed were taken over by violent Venezuelan gangs. Trump made the comments last month during a Fox News town hall and since then discredited videos have circulated online.
"There's something going on. There's definitely something going on that shouldn't be, but I don't know anything about that because I don't live in that area, right? But I also don't go to that area for certain reasons," said Stacy Allison, a rally attendee.
Some people attending the event believe the videos are real and reason for concern.
"Colorado needs President Trump. We have a governor that doesn't care about the whole state. We have a governor that really cares about his special interests,” said teacher Laura Faulkner, who was at the rally.
However, not every rally-goer is on board with the narrative.
"I'm probably one of the only people that does think it's a little bit overblown," said Eric Klinger, who declined to identify which law enforcement department he worked with. "I work in law enforcement, and I actually visited that specific apartment complex myself, and I didn't see any gang activity or anything like that. That's not to say it didn't happen, but when I visited at 11:00 at night I didn't see anything."
Hours before the former president took the stage, the crowd had a vitriolic warm-up from U.S. Representatives Lauren Boebert and Greg Lopez.
"Our backyards look like an episode of 'Narcos'," said Boebert, who has also fueled claims about gangs having a foothold in Aurora, despite members of her own party discrediting some of the allegations.
This includes Aurora's Republican Mayor Mike Coffman, who walked back previous comments on social media about the actual situation at the apartment complex.
Ahead of Trump's visit, Gov. Jared Polis held a press event with several of Colorado's congressional delegates, including Representative Jason Crow from the state's 6th District.
"Donald Trump is coming here to tell lies for very specific reasons. He's doing it because he does not want us to talk about the reality … And he certainly doesn't want us to be united, because he knows that he cannot win if folks are united," Crow said.
Crow talked about spending time in the Aurora community, meeting with immigrants and hearing about the housing issues they're facing.
"What all of them have told me is that they're afraid, that anti-immigrant, anti-refugee rhetoric has increased, that bias and racism has increased. Several of them have been trying to get new homes and rent new apartments, and they haven't been able to, because people won't rent to them anymore," Crow said.
Polis also took the opportunity to call on the vice president to visit the state.
"I'd invite Kamala Harris to come to town. We hope that she can dine with us in Koreatown, enjoy the Stanley marketplace, perhaps take in Cherry Creek State Reservoir, a true gem of our state park system," Polis said.
