Trump Commemorated 9/11 With a 9/11 Conspiracy Theorist

Nikki McCann Ramirez
·4 min read
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Conspiracy theorist and MAGA devotee Laura Loomer accompanied former President Donald Trump to a 9/11 remembrance event in Manhattan on Wednesday. Loomer may be best known for chaining herself to the doors of Twitter’s headquarters after she was banned from the platform, and has pushed conspiracy theories — including about the 9/11 terror attacks.

Last year, Loomer tweeted a lengthy post featuring a video that claimed: “9/11 was an Inside Job!” The video accused former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld of having a hand in orchestrating the attacks.

Loomer’s appearance at the memorial service was not the first time she has been spotted hovering around Trump and his inner circle. On Tuesday, Loomer arrived to the debate between the former president and Vice President Kamala Harris in Philadelphia on Trump’s private jet.

The pairing has raised eyebrows even within Trump’s circle. In April of last year, members of Trump’s circle revolted after reports emerged that the former president had asked his staff to find Loomer a role within his campaign. “The president has certainly known who I am for many years now,” Loomer told Rolling Stone, at the time, adding that it would be her “honor” if she was offered a role.

“Hell fucking no,” one Trump adviser told Rolling Stone when asked about the matter.

Similar pushback is taking place now that Loomer has been spotted among Trump’s entourage this week. “Regardless of any guardrails the Trump campaign has put on her, I don’t think it’s working,” one person close to the Trump campaign told Semafor on Wednesday.

Another Republican strategist told the publication that Trump’s poor performance in the debate against Harris may have been influenced by the people he’s surrounding himself with, like Loomer. “That’s what happens when you wing it, live in the Fox News—X bubble, and rely upon Matt Gaetz, let alone Laura Loomer,” they said.

Axios reported on Wednesday that during their plane ride to the debate, Loomer was “egging” Trump on regarding false claims of undocumented migrants eating cats and family pets in Springfield, Ohio. Trump repeated the claim during the debate.

The tension over Loomer’s association with the campaign  boiled over in public on Wednesday night, when Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) called out Loomer over a post stating that should the vice president win in November “the White House will smell like curry & White House speeches will be facilitated via a call center.”

Greene wrote that the post was “appalling and extremely racist” and “does not represent who we are as Republicans or MAGA.”

“This does not represent President Trump,” Greene wrote.“This type of behavior should not be tolerated ever.”

Loomer responded with a vitriolic tirade attacking Greens’ own history of racism and conspiracy-mongering, as well as her personal life.

“Once again, @mtgreenee who is extremely jealous and vindictive over the fact that she wasn’t successful in turning Donald Trump against me is now behaving like a leftist and accusing me of being ‘racist,’” she wrote.

Loomer did not respond to a request for comment from Rolling Stone, but — in a separate post — claimed that she has no official affiliation with the Trump campaign.

“To the many reporters who are calling me and obsessively asking me to talk to them today, the answer is no,” she wrote. “I do not work for President Trump. I do not work for anyone, actually.”

“I am simply a loyal advocate. The number of phone calls I’ve received today is very bizarre. Human beings are allowed to have friends. Human beings are allowed to travel. Human beings can be selfless,” she added. “A selfless person cannot relate to a purely transactional person. They smear because they fear. But, I do not fear them.”

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