On Tuesday night, during a news cycle where media outlets stoked outrage and falsely claimed Trump was okay with Iran bombing the California cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, MS NOW’s Lawrence O’Donnell, of course, had his own crazy take. O’Donnell himself said Trump “appeared to welcome a nuclear attack on Los Angeles and San Diego, as he kept his monologue repeating the false claims. He also defended Iran and claimed they would not even be able to threaten a nuclear attack on the US.
O’Donnell began, in familiar fashion, and called Trump “insane”: “Well, you live in a country, you live in a world tonight where it is no longer news that the president of the United States appears to be insane.”
He went on, echoing Morning Joe’s Joe Scarborough, and called it “the single most important ongoing news story of this era.” In more repetition of himself only less than two minutes into the show, he said, “The President of the United States appears to have lost his mind, and he repeatedly appears to have lost his mind.”
On Tuesday night, Lawrence O’Donnell went on a long tirade (to be expected) over the lie that Trump wanted Iran to bomb Los Angeles and San Diego.
O’Donnell claimed, “Donald Trump imagined and appeared to welcome a nuclear attack on Los Angeles and San Diego.” pic.twitter.com/ULQCB5EvXI— Nick (@nspin310) October 7, 2026
O’Donnell claimed, “As we reported on this program last night, in a campaign speech last night, Donald Trump imagined and appeared to welcome a nuclear attack on Los Angeles and San Diego.”
He continued, “Yes, that's insane. He couldn't possibly have done that. Right? Well, in fact, it is the first time in history that any president of this country or of any country in the world suggested possibly acceptable targets within his country for a nuclear attack.”
O’Donnell then repeated what Trump said, and admitted the reading did not make much sense as he read it, which claimed might be due to dementia, another past claim of his own:
Because this was Donald Trump speaking, he may be sliding down a dementia curve every day. The words don't make perfect sense when you read a transcript of what he actually said. And they don't make perfect sense necessarily. If you hear him say it.
Even CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale disapproved of the assertion of what Trump said, but notable has not said the said the same on CNN airwaves.
O’Donnell continued and hit the Nebraska rally crowd for cheering at the rally, before he continued to insist on what Trump was saying:
And the cheering from a Republican audience! Spoken by the president of the United States, who appeared to be willing to accept taking out Los Angeles, taking out San Diego. If we have to get hit by nuclear weapons, please let it be there. That seemed to be what he was saying. He seemed to be talking about the possibility of Iran obtaining nuclear weapons to take out Los Angeles and to take out San Diego.
But then, O’Donnell seemed to defend Iran from claims they would be able to attack to the US:
Now, there are nuclear-armed countries in the world that could target Los Angeles or San Diego right now. Iran is not one of them. But Donald Trump seemed to think that Iran is currently one of those countries, and that's why he is fighting his war in Iran. That seemed to be what he was saying.
O’Donnell went on, repeating himself even more, and stated, “Donald Trump said in the present tense, they, presumably meaning Iran, can take out a city, which Iran cannot do.”
Unsurprisingly, O’Donnell has in the past suggested Trump was worse than Iran because he had “publicly lied more about his dealings with Iran than Iran has.” O’Donnell consistently decides to defend Iran while he bashes Trump in whatever way he thinks he can, including this new false claim.
The transcript is below. Click "expand":
MS NOW’s The Last Word
October 6, 2026
10:01:04 PM Eastern
LAWRENCE O’DONNELL: Well, you live in a country, you live in a world tonight where it is no longer news that the president of the United States appears to be insane.
It remains the single most important ongoing news story of this era. The President of the United States appears to have lost his mind, and he repeatedly appears to have lost his mind. As we reported on this program last night, in a campaign speech last night, Donald Trump imagined and appeared to welcome a nuclear attack on Los Angeles and San Diego. Yes, that's insane. He couldn't possibly have done that. Right? Well, in fact, it is the first time in history that any president of this country or of any country in the world suggested possibly acceptable targets within his country for a nuclear attack.
Donald Trump said, these are his words: ‘Let them take out Los Angeles. Let them take out San Diego. This is a very small price to pay.’ Those are his exact words. Because this was Donald Trump speaking, he may be sliding down a dementia curve every day. The words don't make perfect sense when you read a transcript of what he actually said. And they don't make perfect sense necessarily. If you hear him say it.
But the governor of California heard it and immediately called it deranged and dangerous. Governor Gavin Newsom reposted video of Donald Trump's comments on social media last night, saying he is deranged and dangerous.
And here now is video of what Donald Trump actually said:
TRUMP: Remember, with the war, it’s just artificial. It's a little bit high. It's a small price to pay for keeping the world safe, keeping our country safe. They can take out a city - Let them take it. Let them take out Los Angeles. Let them take out San Diego. That's - this is a very small price to pay, and it's going to be over very soon.
O’DONNELL: Let them take out Los Angeles. And he gets cheers for that in Nebraska, among the Nebraska Republicans. Let them take out San Diego, and he gets cheers for that from Nebraska Republicans. What were they cheering for? What did he want them to cheer for when he said that?
Donald Trump was asked today to clarify what he meant, and he refused to clarify a single word of what he meant. And so we are left with those words and only those words. 24 hours later: Let them take out Los Angeles, let them take out San Diego. And the cheering from a Republican audience! Spoken by the president of the United States, who appeared to be willing to accept taking out Los Angeles, taking out San Diego. If we have to get hit by nuclear weapons, please let it be there. That seemed to be what he was saying. He seemed to be talking about the possibility of Iran obtaining nuclear weapons to take out Los Angeles and to take out San Diego.
Now, there are nuclear-armed countries in the world that could target Los Angeles or San Diego right now. Iran is not one of them. But Donald Trump seemed to think that Iran is currently one of those countries, and that's why he is fighting his war in Iran. That seemed to be what he was saying.
He said they can take out a city. Those were his exact words. They can take out a city. Not ‘They will be able to take out a city if they get nuclear weapons.’
Donald Trump said in the present tense, they, presumably meaning Iran, can take out a city, which Iran cannot do. Donald Trump then said, ‘Let them take out los Angeles. Let them take out San Diego. This is a very small price to pay.’ Those are exact words, he said.
(...)
10:07:50 PM Eastern
O’DONNELL: So, with the vice president and a majority of the cabinet not invoking the 25th Amendment to remove Donald Trump from office, the House of Representatives could simply impeach him just for what he said last night, along with dozens of other things he's done as president. And then the Senate could vote to remove him from office. But that would require Republicans to be honest, for the very first time in their lives about Donald Trump. And as Senator Booker said last night, Republicans absolutely will not do that.
After saying that last night, Donald Trump invited co-president Natalie Harp up on stage with him.
TRUMP: I'd like to ask Natalie to come out. Natalie, come out. Bring it out right now. [Crowd cheering]Bring it out. I'll sign it right here.
O’DONNELL: After Natalie Harp left the stage, the strange old man at the microphone called her a perfect person.
TRUMP: She reminds me like The Price is Right. Thank you. Natalie, come on – This perfect person comes up, hands it, walks off. We should go on television with this show, right?
O’DONNELL: Donald Trump, who is 45 years older than Natalie Harp, calls her this perfect person, something he has never said about the current Mrs. Donald Trump. Those three words have been spoken by Donald Trump about exactly one human being, not one of his daughters, not one of his sons, not his vice president, Natalie Harp. This perfect person… who was born in San Diego.
Donald Trump doesn't seem to know that most of the Trump voters in California live within the blast radius of a nuclear weapon aimed at San Diego.
Every Senate Republican stayed silent about this today. Every Republican member of the House of Representatives stayed silent about this today, including Congressman Darrell Issa, who currently represents the San Diego area.
(...)
