President Donald Trump on Thursday fired at least four senior officials on the National Security Council, including three with ties to Secretary of State Marco Rubio. No reasons have been provided.
However, far-right provocateur, 9/11 conspiracist, and self-proclaimed “proud Islamophobe” Laura Loomer said she visited him the day before and presented him with research on members of his administration she suspected of being insufficiently loyal to his agenda. She promised Friday on X, formerly Twitter, that she would be releasing more names “who should not be in the Trump administration due to their questionable loyalty & past attacks on President Trump.”
“Always we’re going to let go of people—people that we don’t like or people that we don’t think can do the job or people that may have loyalties to somebody else,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One Thursday. “You’ll always have that.”
Trump also called Loomer “a very good patriot” and a “very strong person” who always has something to say. “Usually very constructive.”
Loomer, who has worked for Project Veritas and InfoWars and has failed twice in runs for the U.S. Congress from Florida, has a history of promoting conspiracy theories in conservative media. She has called Islam a “cancer on society” and described herself in a leaked recording as being in favor of white nationalism but not white supremacy.
Because of these and other statements, she has also been banned from Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, PayPal, GoFundMe, Venmo, Uber, and Lyft, among others, although megabillionaire Elon Musk reinstated her on X, formerly Twitter, after he bought it. Her 2021 book is titled “Loomered: How I Became the Most Banned Woman in the World.”
Who is Laura Loomer?
Laura Loomer arrives ahead of former U.S. President Donald Trump’s debate with Democratic presidential nominee and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., September 10, 2024.
Born in Tucson, Arizona, Laura Elizabeth Loomer, 31, attended Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts but left after one semester because she said she felt targeted for being conservative. She transferred to Barry University in Miami Shores, Florida and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism.
Loomer’s reputation in far-right circles grew as she repeated Islamophobic claims and other conspiracy theories.
While at Barry, she made headlines by letting a far-right blog know about an imam attending a 9/11 memorial on campus. She was also suspended after she filmed a video of her asking the university to let her start a pro-ISIS student group, which controversial far-right group Project Veritas picked up. That kicked off a lasting association with Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe. Later video stunts included pretending to be Hillary Clinton campaign workers and trying to talk campaign workers into accepting bribes, and going to a polling station dressed in a burqa and asking for a ballot under the name of Huma Abedin.
In 2017, she left Project Veritas and joined far-right Canadian media outlet Rebel Media. Her media credentials were revoked the next year when she confronted Noor Salman, the widow and domestic violence survivor of the Pulse nightclub shooter, who was on trial for aiding her former husband. Salman was later acquitted of all charges.
Loomer has also worked for conspiracy site InfoWars — whose owner Alex Jones declared bankruptcy due to $1.3 billion in legal judgments against him for repeatedly insisting the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting was staged — and other far-right organizations.
Laura Loomer ran for Congress in Florida
Loomer has run for Congress in Florida twice. In 2019, she won the Republican primary for Florida’s 21st Congressional District, home of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, but incumbent Democratic Rep. Lois Frankel comfortably defeated her by 20 points despite Trump’s support.
In 2022, she ran for a different congressional seat against Rep. Daniel Webster, R-Fla., on a platform of severely limiting immigration. She refused to concede after Webster defeated her in the primary by seven points, blaming, without evidence, voter fraud and election interference.
Loomer’s conspiracy theories
Loomer has baselessly claimed in the past that, among many other things:
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9/11, the terrorist attack that killed 2,996 people, was an “inside job”
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The 2018 school shootings in Parkland, Florida and Sante Fe, Texas were staged, with crisis actors working at the Sante Fe one
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Multiple shootings and attacks were by Islamic or antifa terrorists, without evidence
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A winter storm just before the 2024 Iowa Republican presidential caucuses was actually caused by the American deep state using a government project that uses high-frequency ionization to study the atmosphere
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“20,000 cannibalistic Haitians” in Springfield, Ohio, were eating cats, a false claim that Trump repeated during a presidential debate.
Loomer a longtime loyal Trump supporter
Loomer has been an avid Trump supporter since the beginning of his political career and actively opposed Gov. Ron DeSantis’ challenge against him in the presidential primary. According to the New York Times, Trump wanted to hire Loomer for a role in his 2024 campaign, but his aides reportedly advised him against it.
During the 2024 presidential race, Loomer falsely suggested that Puerto Ricans are not U.S. citizens. She also made jokes about Vice President Kamala Harris’ Indian heritage that were criticized by both Democratic and Republican officials, including out-spoken conservative Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. Loomer stood by her joke, saying she had many people reach out to her and say “the tweet was funny.”
Loomer, who is Jewish, has said that Jews who vote for Democrats “might as well just go put yourself in a gas chamber yourself if this is how you’re gonna behave” and that Trump should have some Democrats executed for treason.
Loomer accompanied Trump to the Sept. 10, 2024 debate in Philadelphia and attended a Sept. 11 remembrance, causing outrage due to her previous 9/11 claims. Asked about her claims afterward, Trump told reporters, “I don’t control Laura. Laura has to say what she wants … She’s a free spirit.”
Who did Trump fire after Laura Loomer’s visit?
The officials fired are:
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David Feith, who oversaw technology and national security and previously worked at the State Department in Trump’s first administration
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Brian Walsh, a former Rubio aide in his U.S. Senate office overseeing intelligence matters
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Thomas Boodry, who handled legislative affairs for former Rep. Michael Waltz (Trump’s current national security adviser) and also worked for Rubio when he was in the Florida Senate
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A fourth person who worked for Rubio in the Senate, according to people familiar with the firings
Contributing: Francesca Chambers, Josh Meyer, Riley Beggin, USA TODAY
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Laura Loomer, a Trump adviser, vows to name more officials to fire
