What primary sources document Trump saying ‘they’re bringing drugs…they’re rapists’ about Mexican immigrants in Jun 2015?

1. The original event: Trump’s June 16, 2015 announcement speech — the primary source

The clearest primary source is the text and recorded footage of Trump’s campaign launch speech in New York on June 16, 2015, where he said, “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best... They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists,” language preserved in the American Presidency Project transcript and in video archives of the speech ^{[1] [2]}. Those materials are contemporaneous records of what the candidate said on stage and are treated by researchers and journalists as primary documentary evidence.

2. News outlets that reproduced the primary text and footage contemporaneously

Major news outlets and compilations reproduced the transcript and embedded video immediately after the speech, effectively functioning as primary-source dissemination: Time reproduced the quotation in its initial coverage of the announcement (and later used the line as emblematic of his rhetoric) and The Guardian quoted the phrase verbatim while reporting audience and reaction at the time ^{[3] [4]}. Business Insider published the relevant passage and noted Trump’s own follow-up statement and transcript circulation ^[5]. Those contemporaneous reports trace directly back to the original speech recording and transcript.

3. Archive and campaign releases that preserved the wording

Beyond media reporting, archival repositories and campaign-document aggregators preserved the text: the American Presidency Project hosts the full “Remarks Announcing Candidacy” transcript that contains the line word-for-word ^[1], while opposition and campaign-tracking entities (for example, a Hillary campaign press release and other transcriptions) excerpted the line in context during the 2015–2016 campaign cycle ^[6]. These documents function as textual primary sources because they reproduce the speech transcript and sometimes include audio/video links.

4. Video repositories as primary audiovisual evidence

Video archives that host the June 16, 2015 footage—such as the RealClearPolitics video compendium—provide the audiovisual primary source: the on-stage delivery, audience reactions, and immediate context for the sentence in question are all present in those recordings ^[2]. Audiovisual records are especially important because they show delivery, pauses, and emphasis that simple textual quotes might obscure.

5. Contemporary rebuttals, amplification and competing agendas

Immediate reactions and later uses of the quotation reveal competing agendas: Trump’s campaign later claimed the remarks were “deliberately distorted by the media” while circulating partial transcripts to push back (reported by Business Insider) ^[5]; opponents and journalists used the line to define his immigration stance and to mobilize criticism (The Guardian and Time highlighted outrage and political impact) ^{[4] [3]}. These secondary motives—campaign damage control, media framing, and opposition messaging—help explain why the June 2015 line became a focal point in news cycles rather than altering the provenance of the primary-source speech itself.

6. What the reviewed sources do not provide

The assembled reporting and archives establish the quote’s presence in the June 16, 2015 speech and preserve audiovisual and transcript records ^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]}. The provided material does not include, for example, an official presidential archive entry beyond the published transcript or a White House-hosted audio file from 2015; where such specific archival holdings exist or where full original broadcast master tapes are stored is not documented in these sources. Reporting also documents later references to similar themes by Trump in other years but those are separate events ^{[7] [8]}.

Conclusion

The primary sources documenting Trump saying “They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists” in June 2015 are the recorded June 16, 2015 campaign announcement speech and its verbatim transcripts, preserved and published by archival repositories (American Presidency Project), video archives (RealClearPolitics), and contemporaneous news outlets (Time, The Guardian, Business Insider), all of which reproduce the line in context ^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]}. Secondary materials—campaign statements and opposition releases—reflect how that primary quote was then contested, amplified, and politicized ^{[5] [6]}.