Who is Laura Loomer? What to know about the 9/11 conspiracy theorist in Donald Trump's circle

WASHINGTON – Far-right media figure Laura Loomer has long been a bomb-thrower in conservative media circles.

Now she has the ear of former President Donald Trump, who repeated a conspiracy theory about Haitian immigrants eating dogs and cats in Ohio during his first debate against Vice President Kamala Harris, which was widely mocked online. She also has a history of pushing the falsehood that 9/11 was an ''inside job," and has peddled racist comments this past week about Harris' Indian heritage.

These viral moments have sparked concerns among GOP operatives that Trump’s relationship with Loomer may impact his ability to appeal to the moderates necessary to win the presidential election in November. It also sparked internal feuds, turning key members of his cohort against each other.

Here’s what you need to know about the far-right provocateur spending time with Trump on the campaign trail.

Laura Loomer addresses the crowd of voters as they wait to cast their votes and maybe a glimpse of President Trump as he arrives at the early voting polling station located at The Palm Beach County Library on Summit Blvd. in West Palm Beach.
Laura Loomer addresses the crowd of voters as they wait to cast their votes and maybe a glimpse of President Trump as he arrives at the early voting polling station located at The Palm Beach County Library on Summit Blvd. in West Palm Beach.

How she got her start

Loomer first grabbed headlines a decade ago as a college student at Barry University in Miami, when she told far-right website Gateway Pundit that an imam was coming to a memorial on campus for the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

She was later suspended after she filmed a video of her asking the university to let her start a pro-ISIS student group that Project Veritas picked up. She also worked with Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe for years afterward.

Loomer quickly became a social media influencer in right-wing circles, where she repeated Islamophobic claims and other conspiracy theories. She has called herself a “proud Islamophobe” and called Islam a “cancer on society.”

In 2017, she left Project Veritas and joined far-right Canadian media outlet Rebel Media. Her media credentials were revoked in 2018 when she confronted the widow and domestic violence survivor of the Pulse nightclub shooter, who was on trial for aiding her former husband. She was acquitted of all charges.

Loomer was banned from Twitter in 2018 for violating its rules against hate speech, though her account was reinstated when Elon Musk purchased the platform now known as X.

An unsuccessful political career

Loomer has run for Congress in Florida twice. In 2019, she ran for Florida’s 21st Congressional District, a Democratic seat also home to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. Incumbent Democratic Rep. Lois Frankel defeated her by 20 points.

In 2022, she ran for a different congressional seat against Rep. Daniel Webster, R-Fla., on a platform of severely limiting immigration. Webster defeated her in the primary by seven points.

Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump reacts at a rally in Las Vegas, Nevada on September 13, 2024.
Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump reacts at a rally in Las Vegas, Nevada on September 13, 2024.

She has supported Trump since he started his political career and actively opposed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ challenge against him in the presidential primary. Trump has called her “amazing.”

Laura Loomer's history with a 9/11 conspiracy theory

Loomer has called the 9/11 attacks an ''inside job'', a false claim about that suggests the American government was behind the attacked that killed 2,996 people. That history with baseless 9/11 conspiracy theories raised eyebrows when Loomer traveled with Trump this week to the 9/11 memorial ceremony at Ground Zero.

Laura Loomer doubles down on racist joke about Kamala Harris

Despite criticism from prominent leaders in the GOP, Loomer has stuck with her racist joke about Harris.

You have no idea how many people have messaged me and told me they support me and that they thought what I said about Kamala Harris was funny," she said on X.

"People like people who say things they are thinking but are too scared to say out loud themselves."

What Trump says about Loomer

Trump was asked repeatedly about his relationship with Loomer during a press conference on Friday.

“I don’t control Laura,” he said. “Laura has to say what she wants. She’s a free spirit.”

He said she “has been a supporter of mine,” and when pressed on whether he knew about her conspiracy theories, Trump said: “I don’t know much about it.”

But in a later Truth Social post, he wrote: “I disagree with the statements she made but, like the many millions of people who support me, she is tired of watching the Radical Left Marxists and Fascists violently attack and smear me.”

Loomer’s spat with MTG

A few days before the presidential debate, Loomer posted on X, formerly Twitter, with a series of racist remarks about Harris’ Indian ancestry, including saying that if she won, “the White House will smell like curry & White House speeches will be facilitated via a call center.”

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., another staunch supporter and confidant of Trump’s, replied, calling it “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.”

It kicked off a torrent of attacks from Loomer against Greene, including bringing up Greene’s own former conspiracy theories and calling her “a raging anti-semite.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Who is Laura Loomer? Far-right activist has the ear of Donald Trump