Here we go again — another case of the fake news media taking a rhetorical flourish by the President of the United States as an invitation to America’s enemies.

A few remarks from President Donald Trump's rally in Nebraska have kicked off a media feeding frenzy, complete with accusations that the commander in chief wants Iran to attack two American cities.

The problem? That is not at all what the president said. Not even close. And it’s actually delusional to argue otherwise, as will be explained.

The controversy comes from Trump's Monday rally in Grand Island, Nebraska, where he was talking about the economic costs of the Iran war and arguing that temporarily higher prices were a relatively small cost compared with the national-security threat that would be posed by a nuclear-armed Iran.

Here is the relevant passage: "And again, 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 'em take out Los Angeles. Let 'em take out San Diego. This is a very small price to pay and it's gonna be over with very soon. It's essentially almost over with."

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That is what Trump said. Now watch what happened to those remarks once they entered the political-media bloodstream.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom posted: "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. He is deranged and dangerous."

Newsom's press office went even further: "Let's be clear: The President is advocating for an attack on 10+ million U.S. residents in two of America's largest cities. This is not normal. None of this is. And we will continue to remind folks of that every day."

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass offered essentially the same interpretation.

"The role of a president is to protect the country, not to actively threaten it and encourage attacks on American lives," Bass said.

Then she added on social media: "Keep LA out of your damn mouth."

San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria wasn't about to be left out.

"San Diego is not collateral damage. We are not expendable. And we are never a 'small price to pay.' Keep our city out of your reckless war talk."

Sen. Alex Padilla went considerably further, accusing Trump of "inviting an attack on U.S. soil."

"At least 19 servicemembers have made the ultimate sacrifice in Trump's unauthorized war with Iran —including Noah Tietjens of Nebraska. Now Trump is in Nebraska inviting an attack on U.S. soil, putting millions of Americans and hundreds of thousands of our servicemembers at risk while trying to get Americans to cheer for an attack on our own country. What kind of Commander in Chief does that?"

Rep. Sara Jacobs, whose district includes part of San Diego County, framed Trump's remarks as treating her constituents as acceptable casualties.

"My constituents — including many active duty service members, veterans, and their families — are not acceptable collateral damage in Trump's stupid war."

Rep. Scott Peters similarly responded: "San Diego is a proud military town, home to 115,000 courageous active duty servicemembers and their families. Military service is at the root of our community and culture."

"This month we await the return home of the sailors and marines still stranded on the USS Lincoln for months thanks to Donald Trump's reckless war in Iran," he added. "America knows San Diego is not a 'small price to pay' for his inability to resolve it."

San Diego City Councilmember and congressional candidate Marni von Wilpert accused Trump of treating an attack on an American city "as if it was just the cost of doing business."

"Donald Trump says Los Angeles and San Diego being attacked would be 'a small price to pay' for his reckless Iran war. That is appalling and terrifying. Californians are already paying for this terrible war every time we fill up the tank," von Wilpert said.

"Now, the President is talking about a foreign government attacking a United States city as if it was just the cost of doing business. This is an impeachable offense by the Commander in Chief, who swore an oath to protect our country. Our homes, our families and our communities cannot be treated as collateral damage or a political punch line by this President."

The criticism wasn't exclusively Democratic. Jim Desmond, a Republican congressional candidate and Navy veteran, said:

"I vehemently disagree with President Trump's comments. America must stand up to Iran and defend our interests, but the first responsibility of our Commander in Chief is to protect the American people and our homeland."

"As a Navy veteran, I served to protect Americans, not write off American cities as an acceptable price of war. Our job is to keep Americans safe, stand up to our enemies, and make sure a threat like that never becomes reality. No American city is expendable, and no American family should ever be treated as collateral damage."

Then came the usual suspects in the clueless punditocracy. Former CNN anchor Jim Acosta wrote: "The crowd starts to applaud as Trump fantasizes about LA and San Diego being wiped out by a nuclear attack. WTF. This is not normal."

MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell had an even more economical assessment: "He's insane."

Actress Carrie Coon asked: "Can we take the keys away from Grandpa yet?"

Former California first lady Maria Shriver wrote: "This should outrage every American. This is the president of the United States telling Iran to bomb American cities. I live in Los Angeles, but that's beside the point. Tommorow it could be your city."

Joe Scarborough described the moment this way: "Trump's America: His crowd cheering on the possibility of nuclear destruction of two American cities (and the killing of millions of Americans)."

And there, in remarkably little time, was the new narrative: Trump was "advocating for an attack," "inviting an attack on U.S. soil," "telling Iran to bomb American cities" and "fantasizing" about Los Angeles and San Diego being destroyed.

That’s, well, I won’t say what I think about these Democrats’ quotes, but let’s just say it starts with the letter ‘r.’

Here’s the issue with the TDS hysterics: CONTEXT MATTERS.

Trump was discussing the cost of the war. He called higher prices "a small price to pay for keeping the world safe, keeping our country safe," and then moved into the possibility of a (hypothetical) nuclear-armed Iran taking out a city.

This was a defense of the war in that the president is arguing that he prevented a nuclear-armed Iran.

Trump was not inviting Iran to wipe out these cities. He was actually saying that the Iranians are disarmed from nuclear weapons, so he is mocking their inability to attack these cities.

So, the fake news media, like Politico, CNN, and MS NOW, are only proving why President Trump revoked their White House pool coverage.

It’s exactly because of media hoaxes like these.