One of the things that irritate me to no end is when words are taken out of context and used to attack someone. There's an anti-Lynne Walz ad going around which quotes in writing an ally of hers from when she was a State Senator says "I will burn this session to the ground" — metaphorically of course. The Senator was making the point that she would do whatever it took to prevent a harmful bill from being passed. However the voiceover quotes her as saying that she threatened to burn down the state capitol building, which is, of course, not the same thing. It's irritating and infuriating when the red hats do it, it's irritating and disappointing when people with whom I share political views do it. What's been going around social media this past week is the claim that Trump, while speaking in Grand Island, either encouraged Iran to bomb Las Angeles and San Diego or said that bombing Las Angeles and San Diego was a small price to pay. I maintain that his words are being taken out of context and interpreted incorrectly.
If you are a regular reader of this blog, or even follow me on Facebook, you know that I am far from a Trump supporter. I regularly write about how dangerous he is, how incompetent he is, how he is essentially ruling as a dictator. I'm writing this because I believe in accuracy, and that there are plenty of things to criticize Trump about without creating issues that aren't there.
FactCheck.org posted an analysis of Trump's remarks on their website. (Quotes from that article will be in this font.I had posted a short statement n my Facebook page as well. It's my opinion that the context doesn't support the conclusion that Trump was encouraging Iran to bomb Las Angeles and San Diego or that he said that bombing Las Angeles and San Diego was a small price to pay.
Trump is one of the worst public speakers that I have ever heard. He rambles & changes course in the middle of what I loosely call his thoughts. His cult says they love him because he says what he means, but then have to explain that what we heard isn’t really what he meant. Part of the problem is that they’ll excuse anything, another part of the problem is that he makes no effort to speak clearly and concisely. Most presidents employ speechwriters who will take the president's thoughts and craft them into something concise and coherent. Trump thinks he knows better. He thinks he's a great extemporaneous speaker. He's not so great at reading a prepared speech either. The goal of reading a prepared speech is to act like you're not reading! Trump appears like he's a seeing the speech for the first time and stumbles through as if he's a remedial reader. That's the problem (as it always is) with Trump. Even when he's not lying he has no ability to express himself clearly.
"While his wording is confusing, a more plausible
interpretation is that he meant the war would prevent Iran from posing a threat
to U.S. cities, and higher gas prices are a small sacrifice to make. He’s made
versions of those points before, using similar language."
I believe that it's the more plausible interpretation because of the context. He starts off by saying “And again, remember, with the war it's just artificial, it's a little bit high" — referring to oil prices. He follows up with "It's a small price to pay for keeping the world safe, keeping our country safe." This is a point that he and his cult have made repeatedly, that high oil prices are the price we need to pay to keep us safe. It's a separate issue whether that's true or not. It's not obvious that Iran is a threat to us, or that they are building a nuclear weapon. And of course high gas prices under Biden was a huge problem to them in 2024 — so much so that it was the excuse many gave for voting for Trump. Let's not forget the whole "Peace President Schtick".
Nonetheless, Trump has been consistent in his messaging that high gas prices are temporary and the necessary result of protecting the nation from an Iranian threat. He said this on September 28th: “The one thing already has happened is, Iran will never have a nuclear weapon,” he said in the Oval Office on Sept. 28. “That’s a very big thing, because if you want to see turmoil and a travesty, let them take out a city with a nuclear weapon. I’m not only talking about Israel and big parts of the Middle East, but let them hit us with a nuclear weapon.” Note his use of the wording "let them". Contextually, it means "if it happens", not "I am allowing it to happen".
Trump's next phrase, the one that has been consistently taken out of context is "They can take out a city. Let them take, let it, let them take out Los Angeles. Let them take out San Diego.". And out of context it sounds terrible. It's as if he's telling Iran: go ahead and "take out" these cities. See the quote above from FactCheck.org regarding his previous use of the phrase. I have seen this phrase quoted over and over, mostly without the lead in phrase about gas prices, which causes it to mean something completely different than the context suggests. And the following phrase "That's a very small price to pay, and it's going to be over very soon. It's essentially almost over with." which, without the initial phrase “And again, remember, with the war it's just artificial, it's a little bit high" it sounds like he's saying that the destruction of two American cities is a small price to pay.
My conclusion is that Trump was justifying the high cost of oil by claiming that (1) It was temporary and (2) It was a necessary price to pay for national security and invoked the image of Iran hypothetically destroying American cities to make his point that the war was all about protecting the American people.
All bullshit, but consistent bullshit.
The bigger issue in my view was the cheering that accompanied his phrase "Let them take, let it, let them take out Los Angeles. Let them take out San Diego". Trump may not have meant it as the destruction of two (liberal) American cities being a small price to pay, but the crowd sure thought he did. And they cheered for it. A reliable applause line in any political race in Nebraska is the demonization of people from New York and California. Bob Kerrey, a former Senator and Governor who grew up in Nebraska, was a business owner, was a Navy SEAL and Medal of Honor recipient, who lost a leg in war, was vilified because he took a job in New York. I imagine if I had ever run for office the prime thing used against me would be that I grew up in New York City — never mind that I have lived here since 1981. But cheering for nuclear annihilation of fellow Americans? I guess that's just the other side of "Nebraska Nice".
