The President of the United States, Donald Trump, has once again justified this Thursday his controversial words in which he mentioned the possibility of Iran bombing Los Angeles and San Diego —both led by Democratic mayors—, arguing that "the only thing I was doing" was contrasting the "small price to pay" of an increase in fuel prices due to the war with Iran against the "high price" that, according to him, would imply an attack by the Islamic Republic against these two Californian cities, something that, he claims, could have happened had the conflict not been initiated.
"They are out there trying to say that I am inviting the enemy to bomb San Diego and Los Angeles when, in reality, what I was saying was that a temporary increase in gasoline prices is a small price to pay so that Iran does not have a nuclear weapon and, if you want to see a high price, can you imagine what it would be like if they bombed San Diego and/or Los Angeles?", the occupant of the White House has stated on social media.
In the same vein, Trump has insisted that "the only thing I was doing was establishing a comparison between paying a little more for gasoline for a short period of time and the bombing of our major cities."
"Everyone knew it, (the media) fake news also knew it, but they continue to spread that I am asking the enemy to bomb two cities that I love. What I say is totally clear, but these people are degenerates and think they can keep getting away with fake news," he has denounced.
The controversy originated from the expressions he used at a Republican Party rally ahead of the midterm elections and which, despite the wave of criticism, he repeated at another campaign event this Wednesday.
The Republican magnate has now tried to contain the debate with a clarification similar to the one already offered on social media, in the initial phase of the controversy, by the White House Communications Director, Steven Cheung, who stated that the accusations made "are not based in reality" and defended that the president was only highlighting the danger that Iran would have represented for American cities if its nuclear program had not been stopped.
Even so, the explanations have not appeased the discomfort of the mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass, nor of the mayor of San Diego, Todd Gloria, nor of the governor of California, Gavin Newsom —who went so far as to demand Trump's disqualification for "mental illness"—, nor of the 43 Democratic congressmen from the influential state.