Laura Loomer, a far-right figure who has made racist statements and promoted conspiracy theories and misinformation, has been attached to and has recently been traveling with former president Donald Trump. The association with a figure like Loomer is not surprising in and of itself, as Trump is a man who has dined with and been advised by white nationalists, but even other controversial Republicans want nothing to do with her.
According to Vanity Fair, some figures, such as Marjorie Taylor Greene, are trepidatious about Loomer’s recent bigoted statement regarding Vice President Kamala Harris, but neither Trump nor his running mate JD Vance shares their concerns.
In a Sept. 15 interview on NBC’s Meet The Press, Vance appeared to downplay Loomer’s statement about Vice President Kamala Harris. In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Loomer wrote that if Harris wins the election in November, the “White House will smell like curry & White House speeches will be facilitated via a call center.” A blatantly racist jab at Vice President Harris’ South Asian heritage, in line with earlier attacks on the vice president’s heritage by Trump.
In his appearance on the NBC program, Vance only committed to saying that he didn’t like Loomer’s comments; he did not disavow them.
“Look, Kristen (Meet The Press host Kristen Welker,)” Vance began, “I make a mean chicken curry; I don’t think that it’s insulting for anybody to talk about their dietary preferences or what they want to do in the White House.”
Vance then attempted to pivot to a difference in policy between the Trump and Harris campaigns.
“Do I agree with what Laura Loomer said about Kamala Harris? No, I don’t. I also don’t think that this is actually an issue of national import. Is Laura Loomer running for president? No,” Vance continued. “Kamala Harris is running for president, and whether you’re eating curry at your dinner table or fried chicken, things have gotten more expensive thanks to her policies.”
Loomer’s sphere of influence has other Republicans worried, even an inflammatory figure like Marjorie Taylor-Greene.
Rep. Taylor-Greene made her own post on X, quoting Loomer’s post and calling Loomer’s remarks appalling and extremely racist. Notably, X limited the post’s visibility over concerns that it violates the platform’s rules against hateful conduct.
“This is appalling and extremely racist. It does not represent who we are as Republicans or MAGA,” Rep. Taylor-Greene wrote. “This does not represent President Trump. This type of behavior should not be tolerated ever.”
Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican representing North Carolina, decried Loomer as a crazy conspiracy theorist in his own post, “Laura Loomer is a crazy conspiracy theorist who regularly utters disgusting garbage intended to divide Republicans,” Sen. Tillis posted. “A DNC plant couldn’t do a better job than she is doing to hurt President Trump’s chances of winning re-election.”
As more mainline Republicans try and divorce Loomer from Trump, he has done very little to separate what he believes from what she espouses.
When asked about Loomer’s comments on Sept. 14, Trump acted as though he didn’t know what she said. “She is a strong person, she’s got strong opinions, and I don’t know what she said, but that’s not up to me,” Trump told reporters. “Laura’s a supporter. I don’t control Laura; Laura has to say what she wants. She’s a free spirit.”
According to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Vance and Trump’s willingness to allow Loomer’s statements or Trump’s false statements about Haitian immigrants eating pets to carry the dialogue is done to distract from the fact that they have no plans for the American people.
“We’re not having a serious policy debate about immigration or any other issue if you got JD Vance on your program, basically debating exactly how racist it is to talk about the things that Laura Loomer is talking about,” Buttigieg told NBC’s Welker on Meet The Press
.Buttigieg continued, “This is the kind of sideshow that they want to take the main stage so that they don’t have to talk about anything serious, and it’s a reminder of just how exhausting it was to deal with all this the first time Donald Trump was president. America would be in for another four years of this exhausting chaos every time we check the news if they come back into power.”
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