Donald Trump has defended his ties with Laura Loomer, embracing conspiracy theories and racism against Kamala Harris in making racist comments have compelled some of his Republican allies to draw fire.
Laura has been a supporter of mine. Like many people, she's been a supporter of mine. She speaks very positively of the campaign," Trump, the former president, said on Friday at a news conference in Southern California.
He was responding to a question from a reporter about his allies expressing concern about his close relationship with Loomer in recent days.
"I don't tell Laura what to do. Laura, she's a free spirit. Well, I don't know. I mean, look, I can't tell Laura what to do," Trump said. "She is a strong person, she's got strong opinions, and I don't know what she said, but that's not up to me," he added.
Among the many attacks Loomer endured from her social media posts this week were a couple related to conspiracy theories: one in which she nodded towards a conspiracy theory about the attacks on the Twin Towers on 9/11. "23 years later and there's still so much left unanswered," Loomer posted on Friday, sharing a video of Trump from 2001 saying that maybe airplanes didn't bring down the Twin Towers on 9/11 because they wouldn't be able to create the explosions that caused the damage done at the Twin Towers," Loomer wrote.
He, who has also been viewed at times as a right wing conspiracy theorist, another Sunday post said that the "White House will smell like curry & White House speeches will be facilitated via a call centre" if Harris wins the November 5 presidential election. Harris, a Democrat, will take on Trump in the November election.
NBC News asked Trump if he knew anything about the conspiracy theories Loomer had shared. "I don't know that much about it. No, I don't," he said, adding, "I know she's a big fan of the campaign, but I really don't know."
Trump later attempted to disassociate himself from Loomer's words, but wouldn't specifically say which ones. In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote that Loomer "doesn't work for the Campaign. She's a private citizen and longtime supporter."
Even within the post, Trump defended Loomer and wrote: "Like the many millions of people who support me, she is tired of watching the Radical Left Marxists and Fascists violently attack and smear me."
Various Republicans criticized Loomer for her statement. Republican Senator Thom Tillis said Loomer was a "crazy conspiracy theorist who regularly utters disgusting garbage intended to divide Republicans." The history of statements by Ms. Loomer are "beyond disturbing," Republican Senator Lindsey Graham told The Washington Post on Thursday.
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