Trump’s ties to ‘toxic’ far-right activist Laura Loomer are causing a MAGA civil war. But they go way back
Trump allies in Congress have warned that the former president’s close ties to the far-right provocateur so close to the election could backfire, writes Kelly Rissman
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Your support makes all the difference.Laura Loomer, a notorious far-right conspiracy theorist long known for her outrageous comments, has regularly been seen close to Donald Trump in recent weeks – sparking anger among some of his most prominent supporters.
Online, she has been attacking his 2024 Democratic rival Kamala Harris with racial slurs — and upsetting several prominent MAGA supporters in the process.
Offline, Loomer flew to Pennsylvania with the former president ahead of his debate. Trump also let her accompany him to events to mark the 23rd anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks – a surprising decision given her 9/11 conspiracy theories.
Now Trump supporters like Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lindsey Graham – hardly strangers to controversy themselves – are sounding the alarm that Loomer’s influence could end up costing the Republican Party dearly.
Who is she?
Loomer is a self-described “investigative journalist” who touts “America First principles.” She has also worked for conservative group Project Veritas.
In 2020, she ran for a US House seat in Florida — in a district that included Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort. Despite calling herself a “proud Islamophobe” and calling Islam a “a cancer on humanity,” she won the GOP primary that year — and enjoyed Trump’s support. But she ended up losing the general election to Democrat Lois Frankel.
Loomer ran again for the same seat in 2022, but lost the Republican primary to Daniel Webster.
The twice-failed Congressional candidate has claimed that her election was “stolen.” She has also perpetuated debunked claims from Trump that the 2020 election was stolen from him, and from Arizona GOP gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake that the 2022 election was stolen from her.
Loomer has pushed various conspiracy theories about immigration. She has insisted the “great replacement theory is real,” propped up unsupported claims that Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio are eating pets, and echoed claims that undocumented immigrants are registering to vote for the upcoming November election.
She has also made countless racist remarks on X, joining Trump in questioning the vice president’s race and referring to Harris, MSNBC host Joy Reid, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre – all of whom are Black – as “DEI” hires.
Although she is very active on X now, her hate speech led Twitter, Facebook, Instagram to ban her. Loomer has also been banned from Uber, Lyft, PayPal and Venmo.
What are her ties to Trump now?
Now, her relationship with Trump is in the spotlight.
The former president had suggested hiring Loomer for a role in his 2024 campaign, The New York Times reported last year. She also showed support for Trump by attending his speech at Mar-a-Lago — hours after he pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records in the so-called hush money trial.
More recently, at rallies this year, Trump has called Loomer a “very important person, politically,” a “woman with courage” and a “fantastic person.”
This week, she flew to Philadelphia with the former president ahead of his September 10 debate against Harris. The following day, she joined Trump in attending the September 11 terrorist attacks remembrance ceremony — despite posting a video on X last year claiming “9/11 was an Inside Job!”
“Inside job” is a frequently used phrase of hers. She has also declared, without evidence, the January 6 Capitol attack and the assassination attempt against Trump as “inside jobs.”
At a press conference at his Los Angeles golf resort on Friday, a reporter asked Trump about what he had to say to his Republican allies who were concerned about his recent sightings with Loomer. He gave an evasive answer and called her a “supporter” five times in an apparent effort to put some distance between her and the campaign.
“Well I don’t know what they would say. Laura’s been a supporter. Just like a lot of people are supporters. She speaks very positively of the campaign,” Trump said. “I can’t tell Laura what to do. She’s a free spirit.”
The reporter pressed, saying: “Laura Loomer is traveling with you on your plane.... She made racist remarks about your opponent. She has also espoused 9/11 conspiracies. Do you disavow those remarks?”
“I have to see what those remarks are,” Trump defended. “I don’t even know what you’re talking about. She may have said something based on what you’re telling me. I‘ll go take a look and I’ll put out a statement later on.”
Later that day Trump put out a statement on his Truth Social platform, reading: “Laura Loomer doesn't work for the Campaign. She's a private citizen and longtime supporter. I disagree with the statements she made but, like the many millions of people who support me, she is tired of watching the Radical Left Marxists and Fascists violently attack and smear me, even to the point of doing anything to stop their Political Opponent, ME! I am now in California, which Democrats like Comrade Kamala Harris and Governor Gavin Newscum have completely DESTROYED. I will turn it all around and, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! -DJT.”
His initial disavowal recalled previous comments he has made claiming he didn't know about the views of far-right figures or organizations linked to him.
On the campaign trail in 2016 he was asked about being backed by David Duke, a former grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. He told CNN's Jake Tapper: "Just so you understand, I don't know anything about David Duke, OK?" Pressed on the subject he added: "I don't know anything about what you're even talking about with white supremacy or white supremacists. So I don't know. I don't know -- did he endorse me, or what's going on? Because I know nothing about David Duke; I know nothing about white supremacists."
In September 2020, after calling on the right-wing militia group the Proud Boys to "stand back and stand by" during a presidential debate with Joe Biden, he said he didn't know who the Proud Boys were. He told reporters: "I don't know who the Proud Boys are. You'll have to give me a definition because I really don't know who they are. I can only say they have to stand down and let law enforcement do their work." Several members of the neo-fascist group were later jailed for taking part in the Jan 6 attack on the Capitol, including the leader, Enrique Tarrio, who was sentenced to 22 years in prison. Trump himself is criminally charged with his alleged role in the Jan 6 attacks, although he denies any wrongdoing.
The previous month, Trump said he knew nothing about the QAnon conspiracy movement: "I don't know much about the movement, other than I understand they like me very much. These are people that don't like seeing what's going on in places like Portland, in places like Chicago and New York, and other cities and states."
And in 2022 Trump said he knew nothing about far-right activist and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes after hosting him for dinner with antisemitic rapper Kanye West at Mar-a-Lago.
More recently he has insisted that he knows nothing about Project 2025, a program for a second Trump term set out by the Heritage Foundation. He has, however, said there are parts of it he agrees with and parts he disagrees with.
How has that divided Republicans recently?
While Trump seems to be wanting to keep Loomer around, members of his party have taken issue with her closeness to the former president, fearing her profile will damage Trump.
The Trump campaign decined to comment. The Independent has emailed Loomer for comment.
After she was spotted with the fomer president multiple times this week, Semafor reported that Trump’s campaign was concerned about the far-right provacateur “exacerbating Trump’s weaknesses,” according to a source close to the campaign.
A Trump ally similarly told NBC News in January: “Everyone who works for him thinks she’s a liability.”
Days before the debate, Loomer posted a racist tweet about Harris, whose mother was from India.
Loomer warned that if Harris wins in November, “the White House will smell like curry & White House speeches will be facilitated via a call center.”
Among the many to condemn this post was Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, herself a far-right conspiracy theorist who in 2020 backed Loomer’s Congressional run. “This is appalling and extremely racist. It does not represent who we are as Republicans or MAGA,” the Georgia Republican wrote. “This does not represent President Trump. This type of behavior should not be tolerated ever.”
Greene doubled down on her position on Thursday, telling CNN that she thinks Trump should distance himself from Loomer: “I don’t think that she has the experience or the right mentality to advise a very important presidential election.”
South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, another Trump ally, also thought Loomer was too close for comfort, calling her “toxic.”
“We have policy disagreements but the history of this person is just really toxic,” Graham told HuffPost on Thursday. “I mean, she actually called for Kellyanne Conway’s daughter to hang herself. I don’t know how this all happened, but, no, I don’t think it’s helpful. I don’t think it’s helpful at all.”
Graham added: “Marjorie Taylor Greene is right. I don’t say that a lot.”
In an X post on Friday, Loomer issued personal attacks against Greene and Graham before claiming they were “simply jealous that they were not on the plane with President Trump” ahead of the debate.
She added: “There is only one thing I care about: Getting Donald Trump elected. Donald Trump is my number 1 priority.”
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