Republicans Fear Laura Loomer Is Influencing Donald Trump
Shelby Talcott and David Weigel, Semafor, September 11, 2024
{snip}
Laura Loomer, the right-wing agitator known for egging on Donald Trump’s most inflammatory instincts, has been regularly popping up around the former president. After a debate in which Trump shouted about false viral rumors of pet-eating Haitians in an Ohio town, her potential influence is drawing more scrutiny from both parties.
One person close to the Trump campaign said they were “100%” concerned about her exacerbating Trump’s weaknesses.
“Regardless of any guardrails the Trump campaign has put on her, I don’t think it’s working,” the person said.
Loomer has long been a presence in Trump’s orbit, much to the chagrin of some of his allies inside and outside the campaign. Last year, the New York Times reported Trump ordered his staff to give her a formal campaign role — only to drop the idea after fierce pushback from Republicans.
{snip}
Loomer didn’t respond to a text message about her trip with Trump. On Wednesday afternoon, after the Harris campaign shared a critical CNN segment about her that referenced recent posts denigrating the nominee’s Indian heritage, Loomer wrote that the vice president was “furious” about her investigative reporting.
“I don’t care if the media finds my factual posts offensive,” Loomer wrote. “I find their weaponization of government and their policies which have destroyed our country to be OFFENSIVE!”
Even by the standards of the extended MAGA universe in 2024, Loomer has stood out as an extreme figure. She has called herself “pro-white nationalism” and described America as a “white Judeo-Christian ethnostate” destroyed by diversity. After Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, a prominent member of the Congressional Black Caucus, died of cancer in July, Loomer posted online that she was a “ghetto bitch” and suggested she was “going to hell.”
{snip}
There’s no doubt Loomer’s a divisive figure within Trump’s inner circle, but it’s also not clear how much has changed lately in terms of her access. She’s traveled and spent time with the former president at points throughout his presidential campaign.
One Trumpworld source downplayed her role on the campaign, telling Semafor she was not involved in debate preparations. “She doesn’t interfere, or whatever other people call it,” the person said. “She’s actually very encouraging and a positive person to be around.”
Trump keeping controversial figures close to him — even when they agitate others in his camp — is also nothing new. One former Trump administration official noted that Trump enjoys the “Game of Thrones” grappling for power among those close to him, and that these types of people are ones his team has been dealing with for years.
{snip}
