(AFP) – She thinks 9/11 was an “inside job,” drops racist and homophobic bombs, and has been denounced by the hard right of her Republican Party — and now she’s flying around the country with Donald Trump.
Meet Laura Loomer, the latest fringe figure to set up in the presidential candidate’s inner circle, and who has managed to shock even Trump’s most extreme allies as he seeks to reclaim the White House. Loomer, a 31-year-old social media influencer and provocateur, has managed to squeeze into Trump’s entourage as he is struggling to win over the independents and moderates needed to prevail in November’s election against Kamala Harris, a race that is coming down to the wire.
But instead of opening the Republican Party as a big tent, Trump appears to have cozied up to a self-declared Islamophobe who spews toxic remarks about gay and transgender Americans, and insists his bogus debate claims of Haitian migrants eating pet dogs resonated with voters concerned about immigration.
Asked Friday about her incendiary posts and conspiracy theories, Trump — a voracious consumer of social media who has previously amplified Loomer’s posts on his own account — shrugged them off, telling reporters in California: “I don’t know that much about it.” Trump declined to criticize Loomer, instead hailing her as a “free spirit” supporter with “strong opinions.”
Trump has spent time with Loomer despite her being booted from multiple social media platforms. Last year, a clip posted by Loomer shows Trump sitting with her at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, and praising her as “a very opinionated lady.” The controversy mushroomed this week. On Wednesday, the ebullient Loomer flew on Trump’s plane and was seen alongside him at a ceremony commemorating the 9/11 attacks anniversary in New York. The day before, she was backstage at the Republican flagbearer’s debate against Harris in Philadelphia.
Earlier in the week, Loomer alarmed some of the billionaire’s main backers when she told her 1.3 million X followers that if Harris, whose mother was Indian, wins the election, “the White House will smell like curry.”
– ‘Extremely racist’ –
It proved to be too much for several Republicans in Trump’s orbit, including some who themselves are known for their aggressive provocations. “This is appalling and extremely racist,” responded congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a far-right firebrand, adding such commentary “does not represent who we are as Republicans or MAGA.”
Republican US Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, one of the election’s critical swing states, launched a blistering salvo against Loomer, calling her “a crazy conspiracy theorist who regularly utters disgusting garbage intended to divide Republicans.” “A (Democratic) plant couldn’t do a better job than she is doing to hurt President Trump’s chances of winning re-election,” he posted on X. “Enough.”
She has also faced backlash from Republicans in Florida, the state where Trump resides, and where she twice ran unsuccessfully for Congress. Loomer, who has been a guest at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, clapped back Friday with a slew of insults against Greene and said haters from within her party are “simply jealous that they were not on the plane with President Trump.”
The self-styled “investigative journalist” is accused by her many detractors of being racist, homophobic, and Islamophobic. Her outrageous outbursts, like those of her mentor 47 years her senior, send social media platforms into a frenzy. She has called Islam a “cancer” and claimed President Joe Biden was somehow behind the assassination attempt that nearly killed Trump in July.
The White House weighed in Thursday to say no leader should associate with someone who spreads “this kind of racist poison.” Anthony Scaramucci, very briefly Trump’s White House communications director in 2017, believes Loomer has supplied the candidate with some of his most vitriolic messages. “She’s lighting matches into his mouth,” he told CNN.
Despite repeatedly bragging about his toughness against world leaders, Trump has made no effort to tamp down Loomer’s extremism. “Laura has to say what she wants,” Trump said Friday. “I can’t tell Laura what to do.”
– Michael Mathes
© 2024 AFP
