The Daily Populous Saturday September 14th, 2024 night edition
Authored by newsweek.com and submitted by Fit-Requirement6701

Several prominent members of Donald Trump's MAGA (Make America Great Again) movement are urging the former president to cut ties with controversial activist Laura Loomer, with one ally in Congress accusing the former Florida House candidate of making "appalling and extremely racist" remarks.

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.

Loomer's relationship with Trump has long infuriated some of his closest allies and there was open dissent in April 2023 when The New York Times reported the former president was considering hiring the Florida Republican.

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Trump ended up not giving Loomer a job, but on Wednesday she was seen in his entourage during visits to New York and Pennsylvania to mark the 23rd anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

The move was particularly controversial as Loomer—a self-styled "proud Islamophobe" who was banned from Twitter before being reinstated following Elon Musk's purchase—suggested last year that 9/11 had been an "inside job."

On September 8, Loomer made an X post about Harris after the Democratic presidential candidate made a post about her Indian heritage. Loomer said: "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."

Three days later, House Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene, one of Trump's most staunch supporters in Congress, hit back with her own X post, commenting: "This is 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. Laura Loomer should take this down."

Greene later said she "used to be friends" with Loomer, but said the activist "turned on me and began attacking me" after she "didn't endorse her" in a Florida House race, then "lied so much about me and others like Matt Gaetz, even though we are President Trump's most loyal and fierce elected members of Congress."

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."

Laura Loomer on June 13, 2023, in Miami. Loomer has come under fire from prominent Donald Trump allies, with one accusing her of making “appalling and extremely racist” comments. Laura Loomer on June 13, 2023, in Miami. Loomer has come under fire from prominent Donald Trump allies, with one accusing her of making “appalling and extremely racist” comments. Stephanie Keith/GETTY

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."

Loomer was also criticized by Senator Lindsey Graham, a prominent Trump ally in Congress.

Speaking to HuffPost on Thursday he said: "We have policy disagreements, but the history of this person is just really toxic.

"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."

Newsweek contacted Laura Loomer and the Donald Trump presidential campaign for comment on Friday, via X direct message and email, respectively, outside of regular office hours.

Trump answered question from reporters about his ties to Loomer during a Friday press conference, including a question about criticism from Republicans.

"Well, I don't know what they would say. 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... Laura has to say what she wants. She's a she's a free spirit," the former president said.

In an X post late on Wednesday, Loomer wrote: "To the many reporters who are calling me and obsessively asking me to talk to them today, the answer is no.

"I am very busy working on my stories and investigations and don't have time to entertain your conspiracy theories. I do not work for President Trump. I do not work for anyone, actually."

Trump has praised Loomer in the past, describing her as "the great Laura Loomer" during a July speech in Nashville and calling her a "woman with courage" at his Mar-a-Lago resort in March.

Some Trump supporters have defended Loomer on social media. In response to Greene's criticism, one "hockey mom" with "Trump2024" in her bio said: "Step off, Marge. Laura has been busting her butt exposing everyone the last three years while our elected reps do nothing but tweet, send letters, and hold useless hearings."

Update 9/13/24 at 2:52 p.m. ET: Comments from Trump were added.

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pheakelmatters on September 13rd, 2024 at 13:44 UTC »

She's everything MAGA represents though.

Class_of_22 on September 13rd, 2024 at 13:43 UTC »

And yet still, Trump isn’t gonna dump her. At all.

Despite how everyone around him is warning how she is bad news, he’s not gonna dump her.

ClumsyKlutch on September 13rd, 2024 at 13:41 UTC »

How ‘right’ do you have to be to be criticized by MAGA rightwing idiot MTG?