Republicans are concerned Laura Loomer had ‘something to do with’ Trump’s poor debate performance

Far-right activist has been known to push former president’s most inflammatory buttons

Some Republicans are concerned that far-right activist Laura Loomer is influencing former President Donald Trump and worry she may have had something to do with his poor debate performance against Vice President Kamala Harris.

Loomer traveled on Trump’s plane on debate day, as well as the next morning, and one person close to the president’s campaign said they’re now afraid that she may be making Trump’s “weaknesses” worse, Semafor reports.

The far-right activist’s possible influence over the former president is getting more scrutiny after Trump repeatedly lost his focus in the face of Harris’s provocations, at one point shouting about rumors that Haitian migrants in Ohio are stealing and eating household pets, without any evidence to back it up.

“Regardless of any guardrails the Trump campaign has put on her, I don’t think it’s working,” the Trump insider told the outlet.

The New York Times reported last year that Trump told his staff to give Loomer a position on the campaign but backtracked when Republicans shared their concerns.

Far-right activist Laura Loomer listens as Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump speaks during a Get Out The Vote rally at Coastal Carolina University on February 10, 2024 in Conway. Some Republicans are concerned about the effect she may be having on the former president (Getty Images)

Loomer has become well known for her incendiary behavior, once protesting her Twitter ban by handcuffing herself to the New York offices of the social media company while wearing a yellow Jewish star as she compared her treatment to the Holocaust. The divisive far-right activist has also said that she’s supportive of white nationalism and insisted the US is a “white Judeo-Christian ethnostate” that is being ruined by diversity.

Republican consultant Dennis Lennox told Semafor, “Trump lost the debate because of his performance or lack thereof.”

“That’s what happens when you wing it, live in the Fox News, X bubble, and rely upon Matt Gaetz, let alone Laura Loomer,” he added.

However, one person close to the Trump campaign told the outlet that Loomer wasn’t a part of debate prep sessions.

“She doesn’t interfere, or whatever other people call it,” the individual said. “She’s actually very encouraging and a positive person to be around.”

On Wednesday, the Harris campaign shared a CNN segment deeply critical of Loomer, calling out her racist post on X about Harris’s Indian heritage. Loomer claimed that Harris was “furious” about her reporting.

“I don’t care if the media finds my factual posts offensive,” she added. “I find their weaponization of government and their policies which have destroyed our country to be OFFENSIVE! Stay mad!”

Right-wing Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene called Loomer’s post denigrating Harris’s heritage “appalling and extremely racist.”

She added: “It does not represent who we are as Republicans or MAGA. This does not represent President Trump. This type of behavior should not be tolerated ever. @LauraLoomer should take this down.”

Greene has warned Trump against associating himself with Loomer, with whom she used to be allied. Loomer has called Greene a “traitor.” Last year, Greene said Loomer was “mentally unstable” and a “documented liar.”