Republicans fear Laura Loomer is influencing Donald Trump
Laura Loomer, a right-wing activist who posted last year that 9/11 was an “inside job,” joined Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump in New York and Pennsylvania on Wednesday as he commemorated the anniversary of the attacks.
The 31-year-old provocateur and influencer posted photos from ground zero and shared a video of Trump talking with firefighters in Lower Manhattan on Wednesday morning, writing, “They were thrilled to see him.” She also accompanied the former president to Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where one of the planes crashed 23 years ago after crew members and passengers fought back against the hijackers. [Continue reading…]
She was on the plane with him the day of the debate and on the ground with him the morning after. Some Republicans are worried she had something to do with what happened in between.
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.
Her recurring appearances with Trump around the debate has reopened some of those old wounds. If a common complaint after Trump’s performance from Republicans was that he was “too online,” then the appearance of Loomer — who once protested being banned from Twitter by handcuffing herself to its New York office building while wearing a yellow Jewish star to liken her treatment to the Holocaust — put it under bright lights. [Continue reading…]