The New York Times reported in April 2023 that Donald Trump was prepared to add Laura Loomer to his 2024 campaign team. The news was not well received.
For those unfamiliar with Loomer, she’s a right-wing activist, a radical conspiracy theorist and a failed Republican congressional candidate who has described herself as “pro-white nationalism.” When Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee died of cancer in July, Loomer described the Texas Democrat as a “ghetto b—-,” while suggesting the late congresswoman was “going to hell.”
More recently, as my MSNBC colleague Ja’han Jones noted, Loomer “has used her platform to lob overtly racist and sexist attacks at Kamala Harris.”
She’s so extreme that even Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga. — by some measures, Congress’ most unhinged member — has described Loomer as “mentally unstable” and “poisonous.”
After the Times’ report was published last year and the news sparked an immediate backlash, the former president apparently backed off his plans and rescinded the directions he’d given to his team about hiring Loomer.
That was a year and a half ago. This week, it became clear that Trump is palling around with the right-wing activist once again. In fact, Loomer attended the presidential debate this week and traveled on the Republican nominee’s plane.
A day later, Trump attended a Sept. 11 remembrance and brought Loomer along — despite the fact the radical activist has pushed false conspiracy theories about the terrorist attacks having been “an inside job.”
In theory, it seems utterly bonkers that a major-party candidate for the nation’s highest office would bring a 9/11 truther to a 9/11 commemoration. In practice, Trump did it anyway, assuming he’d get away with it. (In fact, if a Democratic presidential hopeful brought a 9/11 truther to a 9/11 commemoration, it’s likely that would become one of the defining scandals of the year. For the GOP candidate, it’s just another outrage, added to a lengthy list of other outrages.)
At a news conference, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries condemned Trump’s choice of company, calling the decision “shocking, irresponsible, and offensive.” The New York Democrat said the former president’s actions “should shock the conscience of all decent Americans.” Leader Jeffries: Trump bringing 9/11 conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer to a 9/11 ceremony was shocking and offensive to the thousands of people who lost their lives on September 11th. Donald Trump is a conspiracy theory-peddling racial arsonist and a pathological liar. His actions… pic.twitter.com/0drGCdKwso As it turns out, Democratic leaders aren’t the only ones displeased. Semafor reported that even some Republicans are worried about Loomer’s influence with Trump. The Washington Post report published a related report, highlighting the GOP candidate’s partisan allies who want to see him distance himself from her. If recent history is any guide, the former president will respond to all of this by flaunting his associations with the right-wing activist even more, and if voters return Trump to the White House, it’s hard not to wonder whether Loomer would be considered for a role in his administration.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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