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WASHINGTON − Former President Donald Trump’s history of amplifying conspiracy theories is in the spotlight again thanks to dogs, cats and Laura Loomer.
Loomer is a far-right media figure whose theories range from the false claim that 9/11 was an “inside job” to the unsubstantiated reports that Haitian migrants in Ohio are eating dogs and cats. Trump repeated the latter falsity in Tuesday’s debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, prompting swift backlash and jokes online.
A part of Trump’s entourage at the debate, Loomer also accompanied Trump to a 9/11 memorial event at Ground Zero in New York, even as she has incorrectly alleged U.S. involvement in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 that killed 2,996 people.
Loomer for years has attacked Muslim people and promoted white nationalism. She’s backed conspiracy theories about vaccines, migrants, employees of the federal government and the New York judge who handled the Trump hush money case.
She also spent part of her week posting a racist tweet about Harris’ Indian ancestry. That and her other activities have inspired even uber-conservative Republicans to urge Trump to distance himself from the Florida-based media influencer.
Responding on X, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., said on social media “this is appalling and extremely racist. It does not represent who we are as Republicans or MAGA. This does not represent President Trump. This type of behavior should not be tolerated ever.”
“Her rhetoric and her tone does not match the base, does not match MAGA, it does not match most Republicans I know,” Greene also told reporters at the U.S. Capitol. “I am completely denouncing it; I’m over it.”
Loomer responded by attacking Greene and others as tools of the Democrats who want to defeat Trump.
“The media is terrified,” Loomer said on X. “They know they can’t stop what’s coming. Just remember: ‘They smear who they fear.'”
In another post, Loomer said she doesn’t “work for President Trump. I do not work for anyone, actually.” Trump’s campaign declined to discuss Trump and Loomer’s interactions publicly, only denying that she’s a campaign official. Loomer campaigned alongside Lara Trump, Donald Trump’s daughter in law and the current co-chair of the RNC, during the 2020 presidential election.
Over the decades, Trump himself has nodded to a number of conspiracies. They range from the mother of modern conspiracy theories − the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy to allegations that the government has provided false statistics on crime and the economy to the false claim that President Barack Obama was born overseas.
Asked why Loomer was at the 9/11 ceremony in New York, the campaign shared a statement that did not mention her name: “President Trump put politics aside and stood beside Kamala Harris and Joe Biden to honor those who lost their lives during the worst terrorist attack in our nation’s history. The day wasn’t about anyone other than the souls who are no longer with us, their families, and the heroes who courageously stepped up to save their fellow Americans on that fateful day.”
Loomer who describes herself as an investigative journalist, has worked for conservative media outlets and made unsuccessful runs for Congress in Florida’s 21st congressional District. She has been known to confront, on camera, any and all Trump opponents. That includes Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis when he was running against Trump for this year’s Republican presidential nomination.
At one point, Loomer’s stridency earned her a ban on Twitter. She protested by handcuffing herself to the company’s New York headquarters for a few hours. Loomer was restored to the website − now called X − after businessman Elon Musk bought it.
On Monday, the day before the debate, Loomer tweeted out a discredited claim of “disturbing reports came out this weekend about Haitian immigrants eating people’s pets in Ohio.” While Trump echoed that false claim at the debate, the Trump campaign pointed out that he and allies had been tweeting all sorts of dogs-and-cats memes in the hours leading up to the debate; it wasn’t just Loomer.
Loomer’s appearance at Ground Zero also drew scathing notices, including from Democrats eager to tie Trump to the far right of his party.
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, who is from New York, called it “shocking” and “offensive,” as well as telling.
“Donald Trump is a conspiracy theory-peddling racial arsonist and pathological liar,” Jeffries said
