Trump’s comment about Iran nuking Los Angeles and San Diego was incoherent, not malicious

CNN · NBC News, NBC News and The Guardian report that President Donald Trump provoked bipartisan criticism at a Monday rally in Nebraska by saying Iran could strike Los Angeles and San Diego, in remarks about the Iran war's costs being a small price to pay. The crowd cheered.

California Democrats responded. Gov. Gavin Newsom called Trump deranged and dangerous and ordered the State Threat Assessment Center to monitor whether foreign actors treat the comments as an invitation to target the state. Attorney General Rob Bonta, Sens. Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff, and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass also objected. The Guardian adds that Republicans have mostly stayed quiet, but Jim Desmond, a navy veteran seeking a competitive San Diego-area House seat, said Trump should not "write off American cities as an acceptable price of war."

White House communications director Steven Cheung said the uproar is not rooted in reality, arguing Trump meant cities would have been threatened had a nuclear Iran not been stopped. The CNN · NBC News analysis judges the remark muddled rather than malicious, noting that Trump had been discussing gas prices and made a similar point about Mobile, Alabama, days earlier.

Summarized by PolitiKool from CNN · NBC News, NBC News and The Guardian’s reporting. Read the full story at CNN · NBC News → Also at NBC News → Also at The Guardian →