Miranda Devine: The far-left is pushing its most nonsensical anti-Trump hoax yet. It will only hurt Dems in the midterms

Read the original at New York Post ↗
New York Post · collected 2026-10-08 · by Miranda Devine analysis

Quick Summary

Miranda Devine writes an opinion piece claiming that Democrats are exaggerating President Trump's statements about Iran at a Nebraska rally. She argues that while Trump warned of potential threats to U.S. allies and possibly American cities, the Democrats and their media supporters mischaracterized his comments as advocating for Iranian attacks on Los Angeles and San Diego. Devine suggests this misinformation is an attempt by Democrats to undermine Trump ahead of midterm elections.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-08, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

During a campaign rally in Nebraska, former US President Donald Trump suggested that Iran could "take out" major American cities like Los Angeles and San Diego, claiming such attacks would be a small price to pay for keeping the country safe from nuclear threats posed by Iran. The remarks drew immediate condemnation from California leaders, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, who called Trump's statements “deranged and dangerous.” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass echoed this sentiment, stating that the role of a president is to protect American lives rather than encourage attacks on them. San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria emphasized his city’s importance by noting it houses critical military installations like Naval Base San Diego and Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, emphasizing that San Diego is not collateral damage in any conflict. Trump's comments also referenced higher gas prices as a result of the ongoing war with Iran and were met with applause from rally attendees but widespread criticism online.

Written for “Trump Iran California Threats” on 2026-10-08, grounded in this article and the 27 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The article's own words the score was based on. Each is quoted verbatim and was checked against the article text before being stored, so you can find it in the original.
Reading Leans strongly right (beta estimate) Confidence high
Leaning: leans strongly right for article 64578 (high confidence, 1 verified quote) · logged 2026-10-08

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
44
claim-shaped sentences
Uncertain
16%
7 of 44 hedged
Leaning
Leans strongly right
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Correction & hedging signals
66.6
corrections and hedging in what we collected; not a measure of accuracy
Outlets on this story
28
Politics
Narrative spread
1
articles carrying this framing
Analyzed 2026-10-08 · how these are computed

Story

📰 Trump Iran California Threats
Politics · 28 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans strongly right and hedges 16% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Fox News
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 27% hedged 8 of 30 📰 publisher trust 69
“Both articles discuss President Trump's remarks at a Nebraska rally on Monday regarding Iran's nuclear capabilities and potential threats to cities, specifically mentioning Los Angeles and San Diego.”
CBS News
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 11% hedged 1 of 9 📰 publisher trust 66
“Both articles describe President Trump's controversial comments about Iran 'taking out' Los Angeles and San Diego during a campaign rally in Nebraska.”
Daily Mail
⚖️ Leans strongly left further left than this 🔴 10% hedged 4 of 39 📰 publisher trust 65
“The articles describe different aspects of the same rally; Article A reports on Trump's joke about Iran targeting Los Angeles while defending higher gas prices, whereas Article B focuses on dismissing claims that Trump invited Iran to bomb LA as a hoax.”
The Independent
⚖️ Leans right further left than this 🔴 30% hedged 6 of 20 📰 publisher trust 59
“While both articles refer to President Trump's remarks at a rally in Nebraska on Monday regarding Iran and American cities, Article A focuses on the White House's response to media coverage of these remarks, whereas Article B is more concerned with criticizing what it perceives as false or misleading reporting about those same remarks by Democrats and their supporters.”
Al Jazeera
⚖️ Leans left further left than this 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 3 📰 publisher trust 60
“Article A describes Trump's joke during a campaign rally about Iran bombing Los Angeles and San Diego, while Article B discusses a different interpretation or critique of Trump's comments on gas prices and Iran's nuclear capabilities.”
ABC News (US)
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 67% hedged 2 of 3 📰 publisher trust 58
“Article A reports on Trump's actual remarks at a rally suggesting Iran could 'take out' Los Angeles and San Diego, while Article B discusses a claim about Trump making such remarks as part of a critique of the Democrats and media.”
CBS News
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 50% hedged 1 of 2 📰 publisher trust 66
“While both articles mention Trump's comments at a rally, they describe different interpretations of those comments and do not focus on the same specific incident or occurrence.”
The Guardian
⚖️ Leans strongly left further left than this 🔴 7% hedged 3 of 43 📰 publisher trust 60
“While both articles discuss Trump's comments at a Nebraska rally regarding Iran and American cities, Article B misrepresents or misunderstands what Trump actually said according to Article A.”
New York Post
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 28 📰 publisher trust 67
“The articles describe different aspects of the same rally; Article A focuses on Newsom's reaction to Trump's comments while Article B critiques a media narrative about those comments.”
Washington Examiner
⚖️ Leans left further left than this 🔴 5% hedged 1 of 19 📰 publisher trust 72
“The articles discuss different aspects of the same broader topic (Trump's comments about Iran and US cities), but they do not describe the exact same incident or occurrence.”

Publisher

New York Post · 8043 article(s) · 26 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 26 correction(s)
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Who wrote this

Miranda Devine
8 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 He was talking about how a temporary rise in gas prices was “a small price to pay” for stopping Iran from developing nuclear missiles that could annihilate the cities of our allies in Europe and the Middle East, and might one day even strike American cities.
🔮 The next month, Olah was dismayed when Pope Leo, who has a math degree, released an encyclical letter rejecting the entire concept of machine consciousness.
🔮 Ithaca Democrat Mayor Robert Cantelmo damned the accused men as “perpetrators” and suspended “Greek life” at Cornell that he said “failed to hold the perpetrators to account.”
🔮 “The requirement of the board would be that I would show up for four meetings a year,” he told the addiction podcast “Dopey.”
🔮 First it was New York’s unlovely Mayor Mamdani Trump did the great honor of visiting at Gracie Mansion on Monday.
🔮 Instead, one of my obsessed DOJ harassers privatized his Russia fantasy — one he could never prove as a fed,” says Caputo.
🔮 Among the revelations is the startling news that an “anonymous donor” paid for the cremation of Crooks’ body after he was killed by a Secret Service sniper moments after he opened fire at the Trump rally on July 13, 2024, striking the then-candidate’s right ear, killing volunteer fire chief Corey Comperatore, and injuring two other rally-goers. Yet it could be significant, because the cremation destroyed crucial evidence.
🔮 When we return to work after the Labor Day weekend, the hope is that America will start paying attention to the stark choice offered at the midterm elections in November.
Also by Miranda Devine
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 8 articles by Miranda Devine →

Topics

American Democrat Iran Los Angeles San Diego

Subjects

Trump PERSON · 13× Iran GPE · 5× San Diego GPE · 5× American NORP · 4× Los Angeles GPE · 4× Democrat NORP · 2× Democrats NORP · 2× Dems NORP · 2× the White House ORG · 2× Nebraska GPE · 1×

Narrative

France is a warning for Americans of what lies ahead if we go back to left-wing policies that never work: open borders, migrants who hate us, choking off energy resources in the name of climate alarm, socializing medicine, dismantling law and order, and reimposing all the woke social prescriptions.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-08
🔮 He was talking about how a temporary rise in gas prices was “a small price to pay” for stopping Iran from developing nuclear missiles that could annihilate the cities of our allies in Europe and the Middle East, and might one day even strike American cities.

Claims (44 extracted, 7 hedged)

The Democrats’ latest anti-Trump hoax is their most nonsensical, and yet of course, their media handmaidens pretend to swallow it hook, line and sinker. asserted
handmaidens → pretend → it
The claim is that President Trump stood up at his rally in Nebraska on Monday and invited Iran to bomb LA and San Diego. uncertain
Trump → stand → LA
He actually said the opposite, as anyone honest with ears and a functioning brain knows. asserted
anyone → say → ears
He was talking about how a temporary rise in gas prices was “a small price to pay” for stopping Iran from developing nuclear missiles that could annihilate the cities of our allies in Europe and the Middle East, and might one day even strike American cities. uncertain
that → talk → cities
“They can take out a city,” he said in one of his trademark rambling weaves. asserted
he → take → weaves
“Let them take out Los Angeles; let them take out San Diego. asserted
them → let → Diego
This is a very small price to pay.” asserted
This → pay → ?
The ridiculous lie parroted by Democrat operatives is a sign that they may be starting to worry that the “blue tsunami” at the midterms that they’ve been prematurely celebrating isn’t inevitable, after all. uncertain
they → parrot → that
Why else would they beclown themselves with absurd hyperbole, unless it were for the greater good of ensuring the rest of Trump’s presidency is hobbled by his party losing both the House and the Senate in spectacular fashion. asserted
party → beclown → fashion
Trump is beyond irresponsible,” screeched The Guardian. asserted
Guardian → screech → ?
“Trump draws backlash after he suggests Iran could ‘take out’ Los Angeles or San Diego,” sniffed CNN. uncertain
CNN → draw → Angeles
“White House defends Trump comment to let Iran ‘take out’ LA and San Diego” was the BBC’s take after the White House called out the media for their faux naïveté. asserted
House → defend → naïveté
They would rather be seen as foolish. asserted
They → see → ?
Faux outrage Democrat politicians whipped themselves into faux outrage in a cynical ploy to scare their Trump-deranged constituents to the polls. asserted
politicians → whip → polls
“Let’s be clear,” said Governor Gullible Gavin. asserted
Gavin → say → ?
“The president is advocating for an attack on 10+ million U.S. residents in two of America’s largest cities. asserted
president → advocate → cities
Every week, Post columnist Miranda Devine sits down for exclusive and candid conversations with the most influential disruptors in Washington on ‘Pod Force One.’ asserted
Devine → sit → One
The Californian gov went on to say he was directing the state “to actively monitor the situation in the event that foreign actors interpret the president’s remarks as an invitation to target California.” asserted
actors → go → California
Kamala Harris, the wannabe 2028 candidate, sent out missives to her donors: “Californians’ lives are not expendable in Donald Trump’s unhinged, reckless war in Iran. asserted
lives → send → Iran
Karen Bass, the beleaguered mayor of Los Angeles who is struggling to keep her job, said Trump’s statements “are dangerous and could potentially compromise our safety.” uncertain
statements → struggle → safety
Socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders huffed that “the annihilation of two major American cities . . . is not a ‘small price to pay’ for Trump’s illegal war.” asserted
annihilation → huff → war
Sen. Adam “Shifty” Schiff declared with a straight face: “If it means attacks on two major American cities in the process, he is not troubled by the cost.” Oh, come on. asserted
he → declare → cost
How dumb do they think voters are? asserted
voters → think → ?
It’s the same stretch Democrats are using to try to blame Trump for the “Cornell 7” alleged gang rape saga. asserted
Democrats → ’ → saga
New York’s Kathy Hochul appointed state AG and Trump nemesis Letitia James as “special counsel” to weaponize the sordid case into a political cudgel to wield against Bruce Blakeman in her own gubernatorial race. asserted
Hochul → appoint → race
It’s the same playbook they use time and again when they selectively quote Trump to pretend he said something he didn’t, like telling people to “inject bleach,” or that he called dead American soldiers “suckers and losers,” or that he threatened a “bloodbath” if he lost the 2024 election. asserted
he → ’ → election
Joe Biden used a fake quote to falsely claim Trump called neo-Nazis at Charlottesville “very fine people.” uncertain
Trump → use → Charlottesville
All false, but Dems have to feed fresh meat to crazed Trump-haters who are so brainwashed, they will believe anything. asserted
they → have → anything
Are these lies the sign of a confident, optimistic party soaring toward an epic victory on Nov. 3? asserted
lies → soar → Nov.
Not likely, no matter what the pollsters and the Cook Political Report soothsayers say. asserted
pollsters → say → what
Cook this week is predicting Democrats could scoop up Senate seats in Texas, Alaska, South Carolina, Iowa, Ohio and even Kansas, giving them potentially 54 senators and netting a further 47 House seats for a 35-seat majority. uncertain
Democrats → predict → majority
Pundits point to the fact that Trump is having to fly to Texas to save Ken Paxton and to South Carolina to save Lindsey Graham’s sister Darline as evidence that Republicans are on the ropes. asserted
Republicans → point → ropes
Who knows what will happen almost four weeks out, but Democrats have backed themselves into a corner on “affordability” — which sure takes some chutzpah since it was Biden who presided over the inflation that made everything 20% more expensive. asserted
everything → know → inflation
Yes, gas prices are up across the country, but in deep green California they’re a good $2 higher because that’s the Democrat idea of “affordability” — making driving so expensive you get out of your car and walk. asserted
you → ’re → car
Meanwhile, positive economic indicators, a sharper message from Republicans, a newly energized Trump, resilient candidates in key races and floods of super-PAC cash have quietly changed the Republican mood the past week from gloomy to mildly hopeful. asserted
indicators → energize → hopeful
And the message Trump has started giving at every rally strikes a chord at a time of international turmoil: “America does not belong to those who hate it. asserted
who → start → it
America belongs to those who love it.” asserted
who → belong → it
Just look at the riots in France this week, where socialists have united with an unassimilated underclass of welfare-dependent Muslim migrants and their descendants around their bloodlust for power and mutual hatred for the country that has given them everything. asserted
that → look → everything
France is a warning for Americans of what lies ahead if we go back to left-wing policies that never work: open borders, migrants who hate us, choking off energy resources in the name of climate alarm, socializing medicine, dismantling law and order, and reimposing all the woke social prescriptions. asserted
who → lie → prescriptions
It’s a recipe for bankruptcy, misery and ultimately even civil war. asserted
It → ’ → bankruptcy
…and 4 more, not listed.
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