President Donald Trump doubled down on comments about Iran destroying cities in California, asking voters if they want to “see a horror show.”

The president initially sparked backlash when, at a Monday rally in Nebraska, he said: “They could take out a city. Let them take out Los Angeles; let them take out San Diego.” The White House later denounced media coverage of those remarks, clarifying that he was addressing the threat a nuclear-armed Iran could pose.

At a rally for Senate candidate Ken Paxton in Texas Wednesday, Trump echoed those remarks. But this time, he made clear that he would “never” allow Tehran to attack the U.S.

“You want to see trauma? You want to see problems?” the president told a crowd of supporters in San Antonio. “And I said it the other day. Let them hit a missile into San Diego or Los Angeles.”

“You want to see a horror show?” he continued. “Let them hit San Diego. Let them hit Los Angeles if you want to see some bad things happen. You want to see a country that would be in free fall? We’re not gonna let that happen. We protect our cities; we protect our country.”

The president’s initial comment Monday were condemned by California Democrats.

“After sending the National Guard and Marines to occupy California, Donald Trump is now saying our foreign enemies should ‘take out’ Los Angeles and San Diego,” California Governor Gavin Newsom posted on social media. “He is deranged and dangerous.”

“The President of the United States suggested that a foreign government attack Los Angeles,” wrote Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.

The Trump administration dismissed the criticism as a “media freakout” that was “not rooted in reality.”

“He was clearly stating U.S. cities would have been threatened if a nuclear Iran hadn’t been stopped. America is safer because of the President,” White House Communications Director Steven Cheung wrote on X.

Trump also found a defender in CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale, who said that the president was painting a picture of what a nuclear-armed Iran could do, not calling on a foreign nation to lay waste to American cities.

“Trump has repeatedly argued that the consequences of the war, like higher gas prices, are a small price to pay compared to what an unchecked Iran could allegedly do,” he wrote on X, adding that Trump’s “rambling and incomplete fashion” of speaking made it difficult to discern his meaning.

The Iran War has stretched on for seven months with no clear end in sight. The conflict has led to the deaths of at least 18 U.S. service members, cost taxpayers upwards of $30 billion and caused fuel prices to soar across the country.

Polls indicate that a majority of Americans are opposed to the president’s handling of the war.