Former President Donald Trump said Friday that notorious far-right influencer Laura Loomer was just a “supporter” of his campaign to return to the White House, as a growing number of Republicans publicly warned her visibility was damaging the 45th president’s standing with voters.
“I don’t know. Laura is a supporter. She’s a strong person,” Trump told reporters during a news conference in Southern California.
“I don’t control Laura,” the 45th president added. “I can’t tell Laura what to do.”
Loomer, 31, was part of the 78-year-old’s retinue that traveled with him to Philadelphia for Tuesday’s debate against Vice President Kamala Harris. The following day, she was spotted visiting a Lower Manhattan firehouse alongside Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance, to commemorate the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
Donald Trump speaks during a news conference held at Trump National Golf Club Los Angeles in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. AP
On Friday morning, Loomer suggested in a post on X that the US government was hiding information about the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people, writing that “there’s still a lot of unanswered questions.
“The 9/11 documents are still classified to this day. The American people deserve to know the entire truth. Not just what our lying government chose to tell us,” she added. “There’s so many unanswered questions… Why?”
Some Republicans started speculating this week that Loomer has close connections to the Trump campaign. The Washington Post via Getty Images
Last year, Loomer — who unsuccessfully ran for Congress from Florida in 2020 and 2022 — posted a video on social media claiming that the attack on the World Trade Center was an “inside job.”
“You’re telling me for the first time,” Trump said when asked about Loomer’s 9/11 remarks in Rancho Palos Verdes, outside Los Angeles.
“I don’t know that much about it. I know she’s a big fan of the campaign but I really don’t know … She brings a spirit to us that a lot of people have. We have very spirited people. And in all fairness to her, she hates seeing what’s happening to the country,” he added in response to a reporter question.
Laura Loomer arrives with Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump for a visit to the Shanksville Volunteer Fire Company in Shanksville, Pa., Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. AP
Some Republicans had blasted the Trump campaign for having Loomer in their vicinity this week, especially after she posted a racist message on social media over the weekend mocking Harris’ half-Indian background.
“If @KamalaHarris wins,” Loomer had written, “the White House will smell like curry & White House speeches will be facilitated via a call center and the American people will only be able to convey their feedback through a customer satisfaction survey at the end of the call that nobody will understand.”
On Friday morning, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) blasted Loomer on X as “a crazy conspiracy theorist who regularly utters disgusting garbage intended to divide Republicans.”
“A DNC plant couldn’t do a better job than she is doing to hurt President Trump’s chances of winning re-election,” Tillis added. “Enough.”
Trump answered questions from reporters about California and the state of the race. REUTERS
“Someone get Laura Loomer away from @realDonaldTrump,” added former RNC spokesperson Madison Gesiotto Gilbert. “She will NOT help us win. She is a toxic, racist embarrassment to our party and our movement.”
“We have the winning policies that represent every American and put our country first,” agreed Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.). “This is why Laura Loomer’s nasty, racist, and divisive rhetoric should not be tolerated.”
Loomer denied that she was a part of the campaign in any official capacity, saying “all I care about is helping Donald Trump get elected. That’s all I do, and that’s all I care about.”
“Republicans attacking me are simply jealous that they were not on the plane with President Trump,” she added on X. “That’s what it all boils down to.”
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