Laura Loomer Is Where Republicans Draw the Line

In the nine years since Donald Trump descended the golden escalator in Trump Tower, Republican politicians have become less and less likely to publicly disagree with him. But in recent days, a rift has opened up between Trump and the GOP over one of his allies. Laura Loomer, an online conspiracy theorist with a penchant for bigotry, was seen leaving Trump’s private plane with him before the presidential debate last Tuesday. The next day, Loomer, who has said that 9/11 was an “inside job,” tagged along with Trump to a 9/11 memorial event.

Republican politicians do not like her proximity to the ex-president and have said so. “Laura Loomer is a crazy conspiracy theorist who regularly utters disgusting garbage intended to divide Republicans,” and stands to “hurt President Trump’s chances of winning re-election. Enough,” Republican Senator Thom Tillis tweeted on Friday. Other Republicans, including Lindsey Graham and even Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has espoused her own racist and conspiratorial ideas, made the rare move of implicitly challenging Trump in public; Greene said that Loomer does not have “the right mentality to advise” the president. Trump’s own staff has even reportedly tried to keep Loomer away from him. She has become a rare thing for the GOP these days: a red line that the party is not willing to cross.