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By Monica Sager
Live News Reporter
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Donald Trump has been confronted about his relationship with controversial activist Laura Loomer.
The anger came after Loomer was pictured with Trump at two 9/11 memorial events on Wednesday after she posted a racially charged diatribe aimed at Vice President Kamala Harris on X, formerly Twitter.
Trump, the Republican nominee for the White House, was asked about his relationship with Loomer by the press while he was at Rancho Palos Verdes, California, on Friday.
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"What value do you feel that Laura Loomer brings to you and has nobody told you about conspiracy theories that she has promoted?" the former president was asked by a reporter at the scene.
"I don't know that much about it, no," Trump said in regards to the conspiracy theories portion of the question. I know she's a big fan of the campaign, but I really don't know. She brings a spirit to us that a lot of people have. We have very spirited people. And in all fairness to her, she hates seeing what's happened to the country, I guess. So do I. It's very sad."
He went on to say that he can't tell Loomer what to do. Trump also added that he wasn't sure why a reporter asked him about his Republican colleagues' concerns about their "close relationship."
"Laura has been a supporter of mine, just like a lot of people are supporters, and she's been a supporter of mine. She speaks very positively of the campaign," Trump said. "Laura has to say what she wants. She's a free spirit."
Newsweek has reached out to Trump's campaign for comment.
Trump also took to his social media platform Truth Social on Friday evening, saying in part, "Laura Loomer doesn't work for the Campaign. She's a private citizen and longtime supporter. 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, even to the point of doing anything to stop their Political Opponent, ME!"
Meanwhile, Harris' campaign called Trump's press conference a "trainwreck."
"Donald Trump took his trainwreck on the debate stage straight to California. In a rambling, defensive, often incoherent event to promote his golf course, he yet again showed the country how he is melting down," spokesperson James Singer said. "He...defended hanging out with a 9/11 conspiracy theorist."
Loomer had posted to X, raising questions about the September 11, 2001, terror attacks, just two days after she accompanied Trump at ceremonies commemorating the 23rd anniversary of the day.
"The American people deserve to know the entire truth," Loomer wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter. "Not just what our lying government chose to tell us."
...
"There's so many unanswered questions... Why?" Loomer posted.
Loomer has a history of controversial social media posts which have included describing the 9/11 attacks as an "inside job" and boasting of being a "proud Islamophobe." Loomer, who ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 2020, had been banned from Twitter before the social media platform was purchased by Elon Musk.
On September 8, Loomer shared a post by Harris, in which the Democratic presidential nominee talked about visiting her maternal grandparents in India.
"If Kamala Harris wins, the White House will smell like curry & White House speeches will be facilitated via a call center and the American people will only be able to convey their feedback through a customer satisfaction survey at the end of the call that nobody will understand," Loomer commented.
A few days later, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene responded, calling Loomer's comments "appalling and extremely racist."
"It does not represent who we are as Republicans or MAGA," Greene posted to X. "This does not represent President Trump. This type of behavior should not be tolerated ever."
Senator Lindsey Graham also joined in to criticize Loomer.
"We have policy disagreements, but the history of this person is just really toxic," Graham told HuffPost. "I mean, she actually called for Kellyanne Conway's daughter to hang herself. I don't know how this all happened, but, no, I don't think it's helpful. I don't think it's helpful at all."
Willie J. Montague, a Trump supporter who is standing for Florida's 10th Congressional District, agreed with Greene, writing: "It's disgusting. She must be stopped."
Akshat Bhatia, a Republican who is running for mayor of the city of Irvine, California, responded to Loomer's initial post, saying: "I am conservative die heart [sic] Trump supporter and I agree on most of your posts but I feel like this is an unnecessary racial post on thousands of conservative Indian Trump supporters. This is how you turn conservative Indian Trump supporters to liberal democrats."
On Thursday, Greene told CNN that she has concerns about Laura Loomer's "rhetoric and her hateful tone."
"To me, many of the comments that she makes and how she attacks Republicans like me and many of the Republicans that support President Trump, I think they're a huge problem," Taylor Greene said. "That doesn't represent MAGA as a whole."
Taylor Greene said that Loomer lost two Republican congressional campaigns, and she does not believe Loomer has the "experience or the right mentality to advise a very important presidential election."
Trump was traveling with Loomer, however, this week.
"Her rhetoric and her tone does not match the base, does not match MAGA, does not match many Republicans I know," Taylor Greene said. "I'm completely denouncing it. I'm over it, and I would encourage anyone else that matches her statements to stop."
Greene has clashed with Loomer before and in April 2023 posted on X following a report in The New York Times that Trump was considering hiring the Florida Republican.
She said: "Laura Loomer is mentally unstable and a documented liar. She can not be trusted.
"She spent months lying about me and attacking me just because I supported Kevin McCarthy for Speaker and after I had refused to endorse her last election cycle."
In June 2023, Loomer described Greene as a "b****" and "a DOG" referencing her support for then-Republican Speaker McCarthy.
Update 09/13/24 7:56 p.m. ET: This article has been updated to include Trump's post on Truth Social.
Update 09/13/24 4:26 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.
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