Laura Loomer hits the ‘trifecta' in Trump's loyalty test and that's why he keeps her around, biographer says
Loomer, 32, has created controversy with her Islamophobic claims but her abiding devotion to the president has led to her having an apparent sway in the firing of some senior officials.
It's been widely reported that many of Trump's closest officials are not fans of Loomer, who they see as unpredictable, and aides have attempted to keep Loomer at arms-length from the president.
But Michael Wolff, the author of four books about Trump's presidency, says Loomer has the 'trifecta' of what the president wants in an ally.
'She's, what, 30 years old? She looks the part. She's on television often for Donald Trump,' Wolff said on the Daily Beast Podcast this week. 'That's the trifecta. I mean, what's not to like from Donald Trump's point of view?'
Loomer, who has the polished, conservative look of other women in Trump's orbit, has shown an unwavering devotion to the president despite having no official role in the administration.
That combination serves as a 'comfort blanket system' for Trump, Wolff said.
'He sees that she's very television,' he continued. 'I think she just comes in and she just amuses him.'
Loomer appears to be aware of that, too.
Speaking to the New York Times earlier this month, Loomer asserted that she maintains a slim figure and always looks her best for the president. That includes purchasing a new outfit anytime she's meeting him.
That means she fits right in with the crowd of women that Trump likes to surround himself with, conventionally attractive young women, while also going to bat for him any chance she gets.
She's a fierce defender of Trump, using her X platform to call out any person in the administration she believes is not completely loyal to the president. Last week, she went as far as to blame Attorney General Pam Bondi for the Epstein Files debacle and called for Trump to fire her.
Her influence with the president has even led to some changes in staffing. In April, Loomer reportedly gave Trump a list of disloyal National Security Council staffers who were subsequently fired.
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The Independent
4 minutes ago
- The Independent
Trump rages over newly surfaced Epstein wedding photos and Victoria's Secret fashion show footage: Live
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NBC News
5 minutes ago
- NBC News
How Trump's 'big beautiful bill' is shaping this year's biggest elections
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'The races for governor in Virginia and New Jersey in November will be voters' first opportunity to reject Trump's harmful budget bill — and the GOP nominees will not be able to run from their record of supporting these deeply unpopular Medicaid cuts,' DGA Executive Director Meghan Meehan-Draper wrote in the memo. A congressional analysis published by Democrats on the Joint Economic Committee estimates that in Virginia, more than 300,000 residents could lose their health care by 2034. The number is a combination of people who could lose their Medicaid under changes to the program and people who would no longer be eligible for the state's expansion of that program under the Affordable Care Act. 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Ciattarelli and his GOP allies are planning to go on offense on the measure with a focus on taxes, lauding provisions codifying the 2017 tax cuts and temporarily raising the federal deduction for state and local taxes from $10,000 to $40,000, a top issue in the high-tax state. Ciattarelli knocked Sherrill for opposing the measure after pledging to work to eliminate the SALT cap, saying in his video statement that Sherrill 'voted to raise your taxes.' (Democrats note that a SALT cap is still in place under the new law and argue the law's tax cuts will benefit the wealthy overall.) Chris Russell, a Ciattarelli campaign consultant, told NBC News that the campaign plans to emphasize Sherrill's vote against the tax provisions in this measure, which also boosted the child tax credit, and made tips and overtime pay exempt from federal taxes. 'That is going to directly impact people in New Jersey and their pocketbooks,' Russell said, later adding, 'We intend to make her defend that vote.' Change NJ, a pro-Ciattarelli super PAC, has already launched digital ads knocking Sherrill for opposing the measure, focusing on the tax provisions. The group also released a memo last week with a poll from its senior adviser and pollster Kellyanne Conway, Trump's former campaign manager. The survey, which tested a range of attacks against Sherrill, found that the best-performing attack highlighted 'her vote to not extend Trump tax cuts, leading to a potential $1,700 tax hike for families, tax hike on small businesses and a cut to the child tax credit,' although critics of the poll note it modeled an electorate more favorable to Republicans. 'This is the most recent, most vivid example of Mikie doing the things in Washington that people are tired of Trenton Democrats doing,' Change NJ spokesman Carlos Cruz said. 'To that end, you should expect to see us talking a lot about it.' Democrats highlight downstream effects of Medicaid spending cuts Hospital associations have also warned that rural hospitals in Virginia will take a major financial hit under the law, because they rely so heavily on Medicaid dollars: People living in rural areas are far more likely to receive their health insurance through Medicaid. Both Spanberger and Sherrill have emphasized those cuts on the campaign trail. Sherrill held events earlier this month at a health care center in Camden, a solar energy business in Southampton Township, and Kean University in Union to highlight the effects of the 'one big beautiful bill,' which Sherrill has called the "Republican Price Hike Bill.' 'This cruel piece of legislation will kick hundreds of thousands of New Jerseyans off their healthcare and raise costs for even more, cut food assistance for working families, and increase the cost of utilities and mortgages,' Sherrill said in her statement explaining her vote against the measure. 'At the same time, they are funneling New Jersey's hard-earned tax dollars to Trump's billionaire friends and donors.' Spanberger, for her part, made criticism of Trump's bill a central tenet of a campaign bus tour through Virginia in late June, telling voters during a stop in Fredericksburg before the measure was enacted that she'd already begun 'looking at how we can make sure that, come January, as few people as possible get pushed off of Medicaid.' In video released by her campaign after the House passed its iteration of the bill, she warned that it would constitute a 'massive attack on health care as we know it' and create 'a reality where Virginians cannot afford the care they need,' warning that it would boot people off Medicaid, cause rural hospital closures, increase prescription drug costs and overrun emergency rooms. In both states, Democrats also plan to use the Republicans' support for the bill to make the broader case that they won't stand up to Trump, who lost both states by nearly 6 percentage points. Earle-Sears says 'don't panic' In Virginia, Earle-Sears has both praised Trump's tax-and-spend law and brushed off concerns about the measure. At a press conference one week after the law was enacted, Earle-Sears responded to questions about its impact on rural hospitals and voters' concerns about the law more broadly. 'I would say to Virginia, don't panic,' she said, before adding that 'things are being worked out' and saying that federal and state lawmakers had begun taking actions to counter hits to health care coverage. A week earlier — but still after the bill was enacted — Earle-Sears said during an interview on Newsmax, a conservative television network, that the bill 'does so many great things' amid a broader discussion about her policy plans to create jobs in Virginia. And in June, prior to Trump's bill becoming law, Earle-Sears told a crowd at an event in the rural town of Marion that the state would be able to fill in financial gaps created by cuts to Medicaid with 'rainy day' state budgetary funds. Virginia Democrats have pushed as loudly on instances of Earle-Sears defending the law as they have on Spanberger's criticism of it. 'After supporting and praising these cuts, all Winsome Earle-Sears has to say is 'don't panic,'' Democratic Party of Virginia spokesperson Maggie Amjad said in response to questions about how the party was positioning itself to message on Trump's law in the governor's race. Amjad called the GOP nominee's comments 'dismissive and empty advice.' Responding to questions about Earle-Sears' views on Trump's law — and about Democratic attacks on that response — campaign spokesperson Peyton Vogel wrote in an email that 'Abigail Spanberger may not be aware of this, but we're running for Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia.' 'When she and Joe Biden were sending bills that directly impacted the future of our Commonwealth, Governor Youngkin and Lt. Governor Winsome Earle-Sears fought for all Virginians,' Vogel added. 'That's where all of our priorities should be focused, on the people of Virginia. Fear mongering over President Trump's tax cuts is a losing strategy, but we aren't going to get in Abigail's way.' Republicans working for some outside groups wouldn't rule out the idea of ads promoting aspects of Trump's law in the state, as seems to be on the menu in New Jersey, where the pro-Ciattarelli super PAC noted the political value of the tax cut provisions. But Vogel said the Earle-Sears campaign was not planning to feature in any ads, or as part of any paid media, any messaging that defended or touted the "big beautiful bill." 'We are focused on Virginia and Winsome's story,' she said.
The Guardian
5 minutes ago
- The Guardian
I was a late-night writer. Colbert's cancellation hurts American comedy – and sanity
Last week – just a few days after Stephen Colbert called out his parent company for paying Donald Trump millions of dollars – CBS canceled the Late Show With Stephen Colbert. Maybe now people will finally stop saying Trump is good for comedy. In this latest Trump administration, I often joke that I'm just not cut out for being this furious all the time. I'm a comedy writer. I'm built for naming dogs Doctor Reginald Pancakes and writing sentences like 'Every woman's deodorant is called Delicate Whisper and every man's deodorant is called Beef Shazam!' I get that there's nothing more annoying than a comedian getting all serious, and yet here we are. So first, let's address the obvious: was the cancellation for political reasons or, as the network claims, for 'purely financial' reasons. My answer? Yes. The problem is we keep treating those like they're separate things. CBS isn't ending the show for 10 months. They could have made the announcement whenever they wanted. But they chose to tell Stephen Colbert, host of the highest-rated network late night show, just 48 hours after he called Paramount's payment to Trump a 'big fat bribe'. They chose to cancel the Peabody award-winning show in the midst of an attempt to sell Paramount to a company called Skydance, a merger that has to be approved by the Trump administration. They chose to tell Colbert they were canceling his show, one day after the CEO of Skydance met with the FCC and discussed 'CBS's editorial decision-making'. Basically, if the decision wasn't political, then Paramount sure is happy to let it look political, and at that point there's no meaningful difference. Whether the network canceled the Late Show to appease Trump or not, they did it knowing he'd think so. CBS wants it both ways. They want the viewers to believe they're an unbiased network and they want Trump to think they'll do anything he wants. So that's what I think as a human being who lives in this world right now. But, as a comedy writer who wrote for late night TV for almost a decade? Well, I can't stop thinking about the jokes. This cancellation is really sad to me because I believe in the power of jokes. True story: once a guy was mugging me and he started punching me in the face. I told a joke and he STOPPED PUNCHING ME. That is the power of jokes. (No, I will not tell you the joke. Because I'd say it and then you'd be all 'C'mon, it's not that funny' and then I'd have to be all: 'No, you had to be there. It's not as funny when you aren't punching me in the face.') The thing about jokes is that they require a shared base of knowledge. A shared reality. If I tell a joke about a commercial and you've never seen that commercial, the joke isn't going to go over very well. Losing late night shows is one more step toward losing a shared reality, and that to me is terrifying. There is a moment every New Yorker knows. It happens when you're on the subway and someone does something particularly insane: an 83-year-old white lady raps, or a man in a three-piece suit publicly clips his toenails. And then you catch the eye of someone across the train – they raise their eyebrows and you raise your eyebrows back. And then you feel a little better. Because someone else saw what you saw and they can confirm that it's something. Late night hosts like Stephen Colbert do that on a larger scale. They're our way of saying: 'Hey, this is crazy, right? RIGHT?' In this world of algorithmic bubbles and blatant lies and deepfakes, late night television is a place you can gather at night and say: 'Yes, this happened and it is fucking weird.' Here's another thing I like about jokes: the basis of jokes is truth. I've written books, speeches, game shows and news articles and I've never been fact-checked as hard as I was when writing late night television. Jokes just don't work if they're not based on something true. And for our leaders? The ability to take a joke matters. If our corporate overlords and representatives in government can't handle being joked about on late night TV, we don't need new shows. We need new leaders. In this current system – with a Congress and a supreme court who want nothing more than to cater to Trump's every whim – we don't have a lot of options to hold our leaders accountable. In a free society, joking about our leaders isn't just helpful or fun, it's vital. For me, this isn't just about Colbert. (I met him once. In 2014, the day Last Week Tonight with John Oliver was set to tape our first show, Colbert came to our office and went from room to room to congratulate each member of the staff and to wish us luck. It was a kind gesture that I'll long remember.) It's not just about his staff – a couple hundred people who in my experience are thoughtful, hilarious, ridiculously competent people at the top of their game. It's not even just about the humiliating weakness the television networks continue to display as the president sues them into silence. It's about the jokes. We need the jokes. Because this country could really use a break from getting punched in the face. Jill Twiss has won multiple Emmys and Peabody awards as a senior writer on HBO's Last Week Tonight with John Oliver and a staff writer on The Amber Ruffin Show
