Trump doubles down and asks if supporters want a ‘horror show’ from Iran: ‘Let them hit a missile into San Diego’

President Donald Trump drew fresh criticism by repeating, at a Texas rally, a line about Iranian missiles striking California cities, a theme he first raised in Nebraska earlier in the week. Speaking in San Antonio at an event for Senate candidate Ken Paxton, he asked the crowd whether they wanted a "horror show," and said Iran should be imagined hitting San Diego or Los Angeles. This time he stressed that the United States would never allow such an attack and would protect its cities, according to The Independent.

California Governor Gavin Newsom called Trump deranged and dangerous, and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said the president had suggested a foreign government attack her city. The White House dismissed the uproar as a media freakout. Communications Director Steven Cheung said Trump meant that American cities would have been at risk had a nuclear Iran not been stopped. CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale agreed that Trump was describing what a nuclear-armed Iran might do, though he said the president's disjointed way of speaking made his meaning hard to pin down.

The war with Iran is in its seventh month.

Summarized by PolitiKool from The Independent’s reporting. Read the full story at The Independent →