This far-right 'influencer' is among MAGA’s 'most powerful women' — but Trump allies can’t stand her

During the United States' 2024 presidential election, far-right conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer's comments about Democratic nominee Kamala Harris were so racist that even MAGA Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) called her out. Loomer's comments, Greene feared, could be a liability for Donald Trump's campaign.

Trump, however, refused to distance himself from Loomer. And during his second presidency, Trump has welcomed her input even though she doesn't actually have a position in his administration.

In an article published on October 13, The New Republic's Nina Burleigh stresses that many Trump allies and administration officials can't stand Loomer but tolerate her anyway because the president likes her.

"In her power and profanity, in her smashing of walls between 'influencer' and 'journalist' and 'presidential adviser,'" Burleigh explains, "Loomer is a mile-marker in the descent of the American political discourse into depravity, and of our government into chaos and farce. One of the most outré political actors ever to appear on the American scene, eclipsing even Alex Jones in bug-eyed malice and paranoia, she is also one of the most powerful women in Trumpland."

Burleigh continues, "She has taken credit for over a dozen 'scalps' — her word for people let go within hours or days of her public assaults. Among them are a surgeon-general nominee; national security apparatchiks, some with decades of experience in China-U.S. relations and cybersecurity issues related to Russia; the director of the Food and Drug Administration's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, who later returned to his job; and random (Joe) Biden holdovers who seem to have been targeted by MAGA co-workers.

The Trump White House, according to Burleigh, "tries — and fails — to keep Loomer away from Trump."

"War Room" host Steve Bannon told The New Republic, "The president likes her tenacity and loyalty. He sees her as a killer. And the fact that people are blocking her makes him pay attention more."

Members of Trump's administration, according to Burleigh, "have been living in terror of her."

"Loomer, 32, has emerged as the radical right's Madame DeFarge, the remorseless, bloodthirsty woman in 'A Tale of Two Cities,' the Dickens novel about the French Revolution, knitting the names of enemies while sitting beside the guillotine. Loomer is adamant that the sole reason for her freelance 'vetting' is that Trump's own staff has failed to root out Biden holdovers and other current and prospective hires wobbly on the president and his policy whims."

Burleigh adds, "But one MAGA Republican, who asked not to be named because of fear of retribution, likened Loomer's MO to shakedowns. 'It's extortion, political intimidation, and trying to eliminate competition in the dirtiest backhanded disgusting tactics,' they said."

Read Nina Burleigh's full article for The New Republic at this link.