Donald Trump campaign at war after bizarre claim that immigrants are ‘eating pets’ during debate
The fallout from Donald Trump’s debate performance has escalated, with the fury falling on a conspiracy theorist in his inner circle.
An all-out MAGA war has broken out among Donald Trump’s inner circle after his derisory debate performance, in which he pushed the conspiracy theory that immigrants were stealing and eating people’s pets.
A notorious conspiracy theorist who popped up on Mr Trump’s jet ahead of the debate, and remained in his entourage afterwards, has been labelled “toxic” by one senior Republican and a “racist” by another.
The eruption of internal tensions came as Mr Trump confirmed he would not debate Kamala Harris for a second time as, he claimed, he had “clearly won”.
“When a prize fighter loses a fight, the first words out of his mouth are: ‘I WANT A REMATCH,’” Mr Trump wrote on social media.
“Polls clearly show that I won the debate against comrade Kamala Harris, the Democrats’ radical left candidate, on Tuesday night, and she immediately called for a second debate.
“KAMALA SHOULD FOCUS ON WHAT SHE SHOULD HAVE DONE DURING THE LAST ALMOST FOUR YEAR PERIOD. THERE WILL BE NO THIRD DEBATE!”
Mr Trump was counting his debate against Joe Biden in late June.
Contrary to his claims, most snap debate polls showed it was Ms Harris who won this week’s contest, held on Tuesday in Philadelphia.
She continually distracted Mr Trump and led him down rabbit holes.
Even members of Mr Trump’s own party have conceded that he debated poorly.
While the election is still either candidate’s to win, a Fox News presidential tracker shows the key swing states of Georgia and North Carolina have both shifted towards Ms Harris, joining four others in being a “toss up” between her and Mr Trump.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll, conducted after the debate, showed Ms Harris leading Mr Trump with 47 per cent to 42 per cent nationally.
The fallout from the debate is reverberating within the Republican Party.
Senator Lindsey Graham said Mr Trump’s performance was a “disaster”, while right-wing commentator Matt Walsh told a follower on Twitter: “Do you need me to lie to you and tell you this was a brilliant performance by Trump?”
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There have been calls for senior staff members in Mr Trump’s campain team to resign.
And some in the Republican Party have now zeroed in on one specific person in Mr Trump’s entourage, who they are blaming for his poor showing.
Ahead of the debate there were raised eyebrows both in and outside the Republican Party when failed politician, conspiracy theorist, media figure and self-proclaimed “investigative journalist” Laura Loomer was seen disembarking the plane that had taken Mr Trump to Philadelphia.
She has claimed that the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack in New York, where 3000 people were killed, was an “inside job”, has described herself as “pro-white nationalism”, has claimed the US is a “white Judeo-Christian ethnostate”, has called herself a “proud Islamophobe”, and has spread conspiracy theories about vaccines. Among other things.
In the hours before the debate, Ms Loomer tweeted the unfounded claims that Haitian migrants were eating pets in the city of Springfield, Ohio.
During the debate, Mr Trump, now infamously, brought up those same baseless claims.
“They’re eating the dogs, the people that came in, they’re eating the cats,” he said.
“They’re eating the pets of the people that live there, and this is what’s happening in our country, and it’s a shame.”
When debate co-host David Muir, from America’s ABC network, cited local officials to point out that there was no evidence for the claim, Mr Trump said he had “seen it on TV”.
Both the Springfield city manager and the Ohio Governor, who is Republican, have denied the rumours.
On Thursday, a council building in Springfield was evacuated after a bomb threat. It’s not clear if that was connected to the pet claims.
Mr Trump has continued to post AI images of him supposedly protecting pets, many in MAGA hats.
On Thursday, US time, Senator Graham singled out Ms Loomer.
“We have policy disagreements but the history of this person is just really toxic,” Mr Graham told the news website HuffPost.
“I don’t think it’s helpful. I don’t think it’s helpful at all.”
MAGA turns on MAGA
It’s not just Mr Graham.
Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a dyed in the wool, team Trump, far-right Republican who also has been called a conspiracy theorist, branded Ms Loomer a “racist’ for a recent tweet about Kamala Harris’s Indian heritage.
That tweet from Ms Loomer said that, if Ms Harris won the election: “The White House will smell like curry and White House speeches will be facilitated via a call centre.”
“This is appalling and extremely racist,” said Ms Greene.
“It does not represent who we are as Republicans or MAGA.
“This does not represent President Trump. This type of behaviour should not be tolerated ever.”
Ms Loomer replied on Twitter, saying she “denounced” Ms Greene. She branded her a “disloyal woman who has accomplished nothing” and “doesn’t speak for MAGA”.
Ms Loomer pointed out that Ms Greene was not on Mr Trump’s jet to accompany him to the debate.
It’s rare for the MAGA inner sanctum to go to war with another.
It could point to a growing frustration, not just within the wider Republican Party, but also among those close to Mr Trump who are used to his outbursts but are acutely aware of how close the polls are.
Of course, it could also be a mere jostling for power within team Trump.
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