Laura Loomer swipes at Trump from the heart of MAGA
By James Oliphant
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Laura Loomer once had to chain herself to a building to get attention. Not any longer.
A far-right activist who has jockeyed her way up from online agitator to self-appointed presidential adviser, Loomer has long been one of President Donald Trump's most fervent supporters.
She has recently found herself at odds with the White House, however, clashing with the administration over both policy and personnel choices that she views as counter to the MAGA movement.
In the past few weeks, Loomer has criticized the new pope, mounted a campaign against Trump's pick for surgeon general, Casey Means, blasted his attorney general, Pam Bondi, and noisily objected to Trump's diplomatic efforts during his Middle East trip.
If Loomer were just another online rabble-rouser, the friction likely would not matter. But with 1.6 million followers on X and her own weekly program that draws thousands of viewers, Loomer can claim she speaks for the MAGA faithful and, in turn, influence how they view the performance of the president and his administration.
Loomer has said it's her job to keep Trump on track. She has flitted in and out of the president's inner circle and has claimed to be responsible for the firings of National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and other aides.
"What makes her more dangerous than other people is that she clearly seems to have Trump's ear,' said Peter Montgomery, who tracks conservative movements for the liberal advocacy group People For the American Way.
Loomer did not respond to requests for comment for this story, but made clear how she views her role during her online video show earlier this month.
'I'm not working for President Trump. I'm not getting paid by President Trump. I'm not in the Trump White House,' Loomer said during her show. 'I wasn't even on the Trump campaign. And yet, I feel like very single day, it's a full-time job just to make sure the president is protected and that he's receiving the information he needs to receive.'
WHITE HOUSE INFLUENCER?
Loomer met last month with Trump at the White House, after which Trump immediately fired several national security officials Loomer claimed were disloyal. Trump later denied that Loomer was the reason.
A short time later, Waltz himself was fired, something Loomer also claimed she engineered.
But the White House says that Loomer is not a presidential adviser, unofficial or otherwise. She has no pass to enter the complex, said a White House official, and there are no further meetings planned with her.
A self-proclaimed 'Islamophobe' who for years argued that the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks were an inside job, Loomer has a history of provocative and self-promotional actions including handcuffing herself to Twitter's headquarters in New York in 2018 after the platform banned her for hate speech. Other Trump supporters such as U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene have denounced her remarks as "racist, "hateful" and unrepresentative of the MAGA movement.
Last September during the presidential campaign, Loomer traveled on Trump's plane to his debate with opponent Kamala Harris and then was by his side when he commemorated the 9/11 attacks in New York, sparking outrage among critics and concern within the campaign. Earlier, she had said the 'White House would smell like curry' if Harris, who is of Indian heritage, were elected.
AT ODDS
Trump then called her a 'strong person' and a 'free spirit.' But Loomer has become increasingly critical of Trump's administration, if not the president himself.
She sparred online with top Trump adviser Elon Musk over skilled workforce visas. She has repeatedly argued that the administration's hires are being improperly vetted.
When Trump praised the new pope, Leo XIV, Loomer blasted the pontiff as 'anti-MAGA' and a Marxist. She expressed dismay last week when Trump announced he was lifting economic sanctions on Syria, and when he struck an investment deal with Qatar, which she accuses of funding pro-Palestinian demonstrations in the United States. Qatar is a longtime backer of Hamas, but there is no direct evidence tying it to funding the protests.
Loomer was scornful of the possibility Trump might accept a luxury 747 from the Qatari government. 'I love President Trump. I would take a bullet for him,' Loomer wrote on X. 'We cannot accept a $400 million `gift' from jihadists in suits.'
Trump has said the plane would be given to the country, not him.
She has continued to hammer Bondi for what she says is a failure to clean up the Justice Department. On Monday, she appeared on former Trump adviser Steve Bannon's show and claimed that she has known that former President Joe Biden was terminally ill for a year. Biden's office announced on Sunday that he has advanced prostate cancer.
Bannon, who also views himself as the conscience of the MAGA base, called her 'a warrior in the information war.'
But the White House's biggest headache may be Loomer's crusade to derail the nomination of Casey Means as Trump's surgeon general. In numerous posts, Loomer has argued that Means, a wellness expert who graduated from medical school but lacks a license to practice medicine, is unqualified.
'I want to know which one of President Trump's geniuses chose a woman who literally talks to trees and spiritual mediums,' Loomer posted on X the day Means was nominated.
Trump has defended the choice.
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