Who is Laura Loomer? Far right influencer Trump brought to 9/11 memorial sparks controversy among MAGA camp

A 31-year-old far-right influencer with a history of controversy has caused a meltdown among Republicans as she gains support within Donald Trump’s inner circle.

Laura Loomer, a twice-rejected candidate for Congress in Florida and a self-described “proud Islamophobe,” raised eyebrows when she was spotted at the Trump-Kamala Harris debate, with some observers even noting that she was cozying up to the former president.

Although she has no official role in the campaign, it was reported in April 2023 that Trump was planning to offer Loomer a job, a proposal that was met with outrage from his aides.

And after she resurfaced in Trump’s world during the debate, the animosity between Loomer and some influential Republicans continued when she made a prediction on Twitter — one of the many platforms she has been banned from in the past.

“If Kamala Harris wins, the White House will smell like curry,” she tweeted.

Loomer, a twice-rejected candidate for Congress in Florida, is portrayed by her critics as an attention-seeking provocateur who should be too “toxic” to be anywhere near a presidential candidate

Loomer’s “curry” tweet was met with disdain from several prominent Republicans close to Trump, with Sen. Lindsay Graham even calling her “highly toxic.”

“(Trump) would be wise to make sure this doesn’t become a bigger story,” he said.

Loomer first came to attention in conservative circles around 2015, when she was expelled from Barry University in Florida after attempting to form the club “Sympathetic Students in Support of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.”

Although Loomer reportedly created the group to prove that woke students would support ISIS, it only led to her being suspended for violating the student code of conduct and filming people without their consent.

Since then, Loomer has been seen by her critics, including those on the right, as an attention-seeking influencer hoping for controversy, and they have also floated theories that the 2018 Parkland school shooting, which left 17 people dead, was staged.

She has regularly stirred up controversy to promote her brand, including a high-profile ban on Uber after arguing that users should have the choice of non-Muslim drivers.

Since she officially or unofficially joined Trump’s campaign as the 2024 presidential election enters its final stretch, insiders have increasingly pointed to Loomer as the source of Trump’s problems.

Loomer, pictured with Donald Trump Jr. and his fiancée Kimberly Guifoyle, is gaining popularity in Trump’s inner circle, much to the chagrin of his advisers

Before Trump’s debate with Kamala Harris in September, Loomer was spotted flying to the event on Trump’s jet and was accused by some of influencing his performance

“Regardless of the restrictions that the Trump campaign has put on her, I don’t think it’s working,” a person close to the former president said. Blessing – and notes that attempts to keep the two apart have largely failed.

The insider spoke to the media shortly after Trump’s debate with Kamala Harris, in which he decried unsubstantiated claims that Haitian migrants were eating the pets of Ohio residents who were sent there by Democrats.

While the false claims spread quickly in conservative circles on X, they raised concerns about Trump’s rhetoric when he spoke to a national audience.

Dennis Lennox, a Republican consultant, said Trump “lost the debate because of his performance or lack thereof… That’s what happens when you just play it safe, live in the Fox News-X bubble and rely on nothing but Matt Gaetz, let alone Laura Loomer.”

The next morning, Trump reopened new wounds by inviting Loomer to join him in paying his last respects to the 9/11 victims at Ground Zero in Manhattan.

Normally a somber event attended by mostly former presidents, Loomer’s performance deflected attention from the tribute by bringing her provocative past to the surface.

Just a year earlier, she shared a video with X in which she claimed 9/11 was “an inside job” and suggested it was linked to a scandal surrounding the federal government allegedly “forgiving” trillions in government funds.

Donald Trump and his running mate JD Vance seen together at the 9/11 memorial service in Manhattan on September 11, 2024 – where Loomer was also invited as Trump’s guest

Although Loomer has been portrayed by some critics as a fringe player in the world of Republican politics, she has nevertheless achieved some success among GOP voters.

In 2020, she defeated five opponents to win the Republican primary in Florida’s 21st Congressional District with 43 percent of the vote.

However, she lost to incumbent Lois Frankel in the dark blue district, but Loomer’s ambitions for office were not yet fulfilled.

A year after her defeat, she announced her candidacy for Florida’s 11th District, where, surprisingly, Donald Trump is a registered voter.

Though she didn’t survive the Republican primaries, Loomer’s unwavering commitment to MAGA was on display when, like Trump in 2020, she refused to concede her loss to Rep. Daniel Webster.

In an election night speech, Loomer cited vague allegations of voter fraud and claimed that “big tech” was targeting her candidacy. She told the crowd, “I’m not giving up because I’m a winner.”