‘Loomer tunes’ influence on Donald Trump a worry

With The Wall Street Journal asking whether Donald Trump “is trying to lose the election”, he should heed calls by Republican leaders to distance himself from the 9/11 conspiracy theorist believed to be behind his claim that unwanted immigrants are eating Americans’ pet cats and dogs.

Almost a week after he made it in his debate with Kamala Harris, that absurd comment has taken on a life of its own and is threatening to have the same impact on Mr Trump’s campaign as Hillary Clinton’s “basket of deplorables” reference had on hers in 2016. It is impossible to know where the debunked rumour about Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, began. Published reports trace it back to early August when it was disseminated by Blood Tribe, a neo-Nazi group. Suspicions about Mr Trump’s use of it centre on Laura Loomer, described by the Journal as a 31-year-old “online provocateur” and 9/11 conspiracist who has become a significant figure in his entourage.

She arrived for the debate with Mr Trump in his private jet, and was backstage with the Trump team throughout. Afterwards, she flew with Mr Trump to 9/11 commemoration ceremonies. Her attendance was especially insulting, the WSJ noted, because Ms Loomer has claimed 9/11 was “an inside job”. “Does she think Osama bin Laden was a CIA front man?”

Before the debate, Ms Loomer posted claims that Haitian migrants were killing and eating pets. She shared images, generated with AI, of dogs, cats and ducks being protected by Mr Trump.

Ms Loomer is usually described as far right but “that’s unfair to the fever swamps”, the Journal said. She has also posted on X that if Kamala Harris wins the election “the White House will smell like curry”, a jibe against Ms Harris’s Indian heritage. That was too much for some of Mr Trump’s closest supporters. Republican house member Marjorie Taylor Greene described it as “appalling and extremely racist”. Ms Loomer’s influence is casting increasing doubt about Mr Trump’s judgment.