Laura Loomer asked who is travelling with Trump

BBC.com

The presence of hard-right conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer alongside Donald Trump on the campaign trail in recent days has raised questions, including from some Republicans, about the influence the controversial former congressional candidate may have on him.
Ms Loomer is well-known for her anti-Muslim rhetoric and for spreading conspiracy theories, including that the 9/11 attacks were an “inside job” carried out by the US government.
Trump said he was repeating claims he had heard on television, but the baseless theory was aired by Ms Loomer just a day before the debate.
On Monday, the fringe pundit and social media influencer repeated the baseless claims to her 1.2m followers on X.
An anonymous source close to the Trump campaign told US news outlet Semafor that they were “100%” concerned about Ms Loomer’s proximity to Trump.
Another source, however, told the outlet that Ms Loomer did not interfere in debate preparations and said she was a “positive person to be around”.
Dennis Lennox, a Republican consultant, was much more pointed in his criticism of Trump’s debate performance and Ms Loomer.
Ms Loomer did not respond to several requests for comment from the BBC.
“Everyone who works for him thinks she’s a liability,” one Trump aide said of Ms Loomer in a report in NBC News in January.
This feud in Trump’s orbit played out just a day after Ms Loomer appeared at events with Trump commemorating the anniversary of 9/11 in New York and Pennsylvania.

NEGATIVE

In recent days, hard-right conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer has been accompanied by Donald Trump on the campaign trail, raising concerns among some Republicans about the potential influence the controversial former congressional candidate may have on him.

Ms. Loomer is well known for her hate speech directed towards Muslims and for disseminating conspiracies, such as the notion that the US government orchestrated an “inside job” on the 9/11 attacks.

She accompanied Trump on Wednesday at an event honoring the attacks, drawing criticism and inciting indignation in certain US media outlets.

And the 31-year-old boarded Trump’s aircraft on Tuesday to go to Philadelphia for the city’s presidential debate.

During that debate, Trump made an unfounded accusation that illegal immigrants from Haiti had been consuming domestic pets in a small Ohio city. That was perhaps the most memorable moment of the discussion. “They are consuming the residents’ pets,” he declared.

Afterwards, city officials told BBC Verify that there have been “no credible reports” that this has truly occurred.

Trump claimed he was reiterating things he had heard on television, but Ms. Loomer had presented the absurd theory the day before the debate. The social media influencer and fringe pundit reiterated the unfounded assertions to her 1.2 million followers on X on Monday.

Due to Ms. Loomer’s post and her presence in Philadelphia, some Republicans have blamed her for the former president’s unfounded claim that he made on stage, even though it’s unclear how much access she has to Trump and that his running mate JD Vance has also promoted the false theory.

The Trump campaign was “100%” concerned about Ms. Loomer’s closeness to the president, according to an anonymous source who was close to the news organization Semafor in the US.

The source was cited as saying, “I don’t think it’s working, regardless of any guardrails the Trump campaign has put on her.”.

Another source, however, told the outlet that Ms Loomer did not interfere in debate preparations and said she was a “positive person to be around”.

Republican consultant Dennis Lennox criticized Ms. Loomer and Trump’s debate performance with far more vigor. “It is the result of winging it, living in the Fox News-X bubble, and depending solely on Matt Gaetz, let alone Laura Loomer,” he informed Semafor.

Several requests for comment from the BBC were not answered by Ms. Loomer.

However, she claimed on X, the former Twitter, that she works for Trump “independently” and called him “truly our nation’s last hope.”.

“To the countless reporters phoning and pestering me to speak with them today, the answer is no,” she wrote. “I don’t have time to entertain your conspiracy theories because I am too busy working on my stories and investigations. “.”.

The self-described investigative journalist, who was born in Arizona in 1993, has experience as an activist and pundit for publications like Infowars by Alex Jones and Project Veritas.

She campaigned as a Republican for the US House of Representatives in Florida in 2020 with Trump’s backing, but she was defeated by Democrat Lois Frankel.

In an unsuccessful attempt to unseat Representative Daniel Webster in a Republican primary in a different Florida district, she made another attempt two years later.

Her offensive remarks about Muslim drivers on Facebook, Instagram, and even Uber and Lyft, she claimed, resulted in her being banned from several platforms. She used to identify as a “proud Islamophobe”.

Three main debate claims are fact-checked: eating pets, inflation, and abortion.

Leaders in Ohio deny allegations that immigrants eat pets.

US voters comment on the quality of the debate.

Ms. Loomer has previously been spotted at Trump’s Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago, and is always seen at events supporting him.

She took his plane to Iowa earlier this year, where he acknowledged her on stage at an event. According to Trump, “You want her on your side.”. A number of her videos have also been shared on Truth Social by the former president.

Additionally, according to the New York Times last year, Trump had indicated interest in using her for his campaign before backing down only after senior advisers voiced worries that she would undermine his chances of winning the presidency.

One Trump aide claimed of Ms. Loomer in an NBC News report from January that “everyone who works for him thinks she’s a liability.”.

This week, Ms. Loomer’s remarks regarding Senator Harris’s race and a post in which she stated that the White House “will smell like curry” if Harris—who is partially Indian—is elected infuriated Marjorie Taylor Greene, another vocal Trump supporter.

A barrage of indignant messages was directed at Ms. Loomer after Greene called her remarks “appalling and extremely racist” and said they “not represent who we are as Republicans or MAGA.”.

Only one day had passed since Ms. Loomer’s appearance at Trump-hosted events honoring the 9/11 anniversary in New York and Pennsylvania before this conflict occurred within his inner circle.

When questioned by the Associated Press about her attendance, she stated that she was “invited as a guest” and did not work for the campaign.

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