Kamala Harris calls Trump a ‘tyrant’ over remarks about Iran attacking California cities

The former vice president joined Gavin Newsom, Karen Bass and Todd Gloria in condemning Trump’s comments about Los Angeles and San Diego.

Former U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris called out Donald Trump‘s controversial remarks about Iran potentially attacking Los Angeles and San Diego, slamming the president as a “tyrant” and his months-long war in the Middle East.

“Californians’ lives are not expendable in Donald Trump’s unhinged, reckless war in Iran,” Harris said in a social media post on Tuesday, a day after President Trump said at a Nebraska campaign rally that the U.S. war in Iran was a “small price to pay for keeping the world safe,” adding, “They can take out a city…let them take out Los Angeles, let them take out San Diego.”

While the White House attempted to explain away the comments, which drew immediate and swift pushback from elected leaders and residents, Harris, a California native who represented the state in the U.S. Senate after serving as the state’s attorney general, said, “This is yet another callous comment from the tyrant in the White House who dragged the American people into a war that we do not want.”

Harris’ callout of Trump’s remarks comes after California Governor Gavin Newsom said he would instruct state security officials to monitor against any foreign threat.

“Donald Trump’s remarks were dangerous — if not treasonous — putting a target on two of our biggest cities and one of America’s largest naval hubs,” Newsom wrote on X. “I am directing the State Threat Assessment Center to actively monitor the situation in the event that foreign actors interpret the President’s remarks as an invitation to target California.”

Trump was also slammed by Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria. Bass, a former U.S. Congresswoman who served on the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs, told MS Now that the president’s comments were “completely irresponsible.”

“You don’t say something like that in jest,” said Bass, who is running for re-election next month and has clashed with the White House over Trump’s immigration policies and deployment of U.S. military to Los Angeles streets.

In response to the public backlash, the White House has argued that the president’s comments were misinterpreted.

“The media freakout over President Trump’s comments is not rooted in reality. He was clearly stating U.S. cities would have been threatened if a nuclear Iran hadn’t been stopped,” said White House Communications Director Steven Chueng said in a statement. “America is safer because of the President. Iran has no nuclear, no navy, no air force, and no money.”

While Trump gaggled with reporters at the White House before traveling to Baltimore on Tuesday, a reporter endeavored to ask the president about his comments on Los Angeles and San Diego.

“What did mean when you said ‘let them take out Los Angeles and San Diego?'” the reporter asked.

The president walked away without answering the question.