Only one day after accusing Fox News of making the news whatever it wants with no regard for facts and only trying to make people perpetually angry, ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel was confronted on Thursday with the truth behind President Trump’s remarks about a hypothetical scenario where Iran bombs Los Angeles and San Diego. However, instead of correcting himself, Kimmel tried to keep the myth that Trump wants the enemy to kill 13 million Americans alive.
Kimmel began by reading a Trump Truth Social post, “He is now quadrupling down on this fantasy he has been expressing about Iran wiping out L.A. and San Diego. He wrote, ‘The fake and artificial news is out there trying to say that I'm inviting the enemy to bomb San Diego and L.A. when, in actuality, what I was talking about was that a temporary increase in the price of gasoline is a small price to pay for Iran not having a nuclear weapon, and if you want to see a big price, can you imagine what it would be like if they bombed San Diego and/or Los Angeles?’ Blah, blah, blah. ‘These people are degenerates and think they can continuously get away with fake news!’”
Jimmy Kimmel refuses to let the myth that Trump wants Iran to bomb Los Angeles and San Diego die, "On the other hand, he is now quadrupling down on this fantasy he has been expressing about Iran wiping out L.A. And San Diego."
After reading a Truth Social post, Kimmel dismisses… pic.twitter.com/hzlKFAweEw— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) October 9, 2026
“Blah, blah, blah” is an interesting thing to say when your entire narrative comes crumbling down. However, for Kimmel, the real problem was with Trump’s defenders, “First, they said it was a joke. Then, they said it was taken out of context. And now, he just keeps saying it. Over and over again.”
Who is “they”? Sure, some people said it was a joke, but other people were saying it was taken out of context from the beginning. Nevertheless, Kimmel then played a clip of Trump that he thought proved his point but actually proved the opposite. Trump declared, “I say it all the time. Let's see what would happen if they ever did something like to Los Angeles or San Diego. Those seem to be the most prominent because of location. And I'm talking about through missiles. That would be terrible if something like that happened. You want to see problems, let them hit Los Angeles or let them hit a place like San Diego.”
Kimmel reacted by ranting, “Why do you keep saying Los Angeles and San Diego? If you aren’t inviting them to target us, try mixing the cities up a little bit.”
Los Angeles is the country’s second largest city, and San Diego is home to the largest naval base on the West Coast, but Kimmel’s clueless ranting continued. With a lack of understanding of basic ideas such as military research and development, he huffed that, “He ruminates about our death by missile strike and tries to cover it by saying we won't let that happen. You know why it won't happen? Because it can't happen! Iran has no known missiles capable of reaching California. Tehran is more than 7,000 miles away. Their range is 1,200 miles. Iran doesn't have any nuclear weapons that could hit us. He might as well be protecting us from the chupacabra here. Do you think he even knows this? I’m serious. He might not even know this.”
Not only does Kimmel continue to spread misinformation about Trump’s remarks, he also remains proudly ignorant of the policy details behind them.
Here is a transcript for the October 8 show:
ABC Jimmy Kimmel Live!
10/8/2016
11:39 PM ET
JIMMY KIMMEL: On the other hand, he is now quadrupling down on this fantasy he has been expressing about Iran wiping out L.A. and San Diego. He wrote, "The fake and artificial news is out there trying to say that I'm inviting the enemy to bomb San Diego and L.A. when, in actuality, what I was talking about was that a temporary increase in the price of gasoline is a small price to pay for Iran not having a nuclear weapon, and if you want to see a big price, can you imagine what it would be like if they bombed San Diego and/or Los Angeles?” Blah, blah, blah. “These people are degenerates and think they can continuously get away with fake news!"
First, they said it was a joke. Then, they said it was taken out of context. And now, he just keeps saying it. Over and over again.
DONALD TRUMP: I say it all the time. Let's see what would happen if they ever did something like to Los Angeles or San Diego. Those seem to be the most prominent because of location. And I'm talking about through missiles. That would be terrible if something like that happened. You want to see problems, let them hit Los Angeles or let them hit a place like San Diego.
KIMMEL: Why do you keep saying Los Angeles and San Diego? If you aren’t inviting them to target us, try mixing the cities up a little bit. He ruminates about our death by missile strike and tries to cover it by saying we won't let that happen. You know why it won't happen? Because it can't happen! Iran has no known missiles capable of reaching California. Tehran is more than 7,000 miles away. Their range is 1,200 miles. Iran doesn't have any nuclear weapons that could hit us. He might as well be protecting us from the chupacabra here. Do you think he even knows this? I’m serious. He might not even know this.
