Donald Trump attended a Sept. 11 remembrance Wednesday alongside a far-right activist who has pushed a false narrative that the terrorist attack was “an inside job.”
Laura Loomer, a Trump ally, joined him at a fire station in lower Manhattan, where he and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, met and took photos with firefighters. Some members of the station died responding to the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
Throughout the day Wednesday, Loomer posted videos to social media documenting Trump’s visits to commemorate 9/11. She also attended the presidential debate Tuesday night and traveled on Trump’s plane.
Just last year, Loomer posted a lengthy message on X that included a video that falsely said that “9/11 was an Inside Job!”
Loomer did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday night about her stop with Trump and whether her views on 9/11 have changed.
In a lengthy post on X after NBC News asked for comment, Loomer said, “To the many reporters who are calling me and obsessively asking me to talk to them today, the answer is no.”
“I’m not sure why this is so hard for people to understand, but I believe in unconditional loyalty to those who are deserving,” she said in her post. “And there is nobody more deserving of our loyalty and unwavering support than Donald Trump.”
NBC News asked the Trump campaign for details about the decision to have Loomer travel with Trump, the extent of her conversations with him and whether the campaign knew she has promoted 9/11 conspiracy theories before it invited her to accompany Trump.
The campaign did not respond, instead providing a statement about Trump’s 9/11 commemoration.
“Today, President Trump put politics aside and stood beside Kamala Harris and Joe Biden to honor those who lost their lives during the worst terrorist attack in our nation’s history,” a campaign official said. “The day wasn’t about anyone other than the souls who are no longer with us, their families, and the heroes who courageously stepped up to save their fellow Americans on that fateful day.”
The Harris campaign declined to comment.
Loomer has a history of pushing a variety of conspiracy theories. She said last week that school shootings have been allowed to happen to help Democrats. She has pushed conspiracy theories about undocumented immigrants’ registering to vote in November, and she touted the baseless story about Haitian immigrants’ eating cats. She has falsely said Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are in an “arranged relationship” to “influence the 2024 election,” among other mistruths.
Loomer’s closeness to Trump doesn’t appear to be sitting well with all his allies.
On Wednesday, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., called for Loomer to delete an “extremely racist” post targeting Vice President Kamala Harris.
“This is appalling and extremely racist. It does not represent who we are as Republicans or MAGA,” Greene, a fellow Trump ally, said Wednesday night on X. “This does not represent President Trump. This type of behavior should not be tolerated ever. @LauraLoomer should take this down.”
In a post on Sunday, Loomer launched into a racist tirade against Harris, saying that if she won, “the White House will smell like curry & White House speeches will be facilitated via a call center and the American people will only be able to convey their feedback through a customer satisfaction survey at the end of the call that nobody will understand.”
Harris is the first person of Indian descent to be a major party’s nominee for president. She is also the first Black woman to be a major party’s nominee.
Following Greene’s tweet, Loomer attacked her in a series of posts, adding that she would not delete the initial post.
Greene has promoted antisemitic conspiracy theories and made controversial remarks about the Holocaust, comparing mask mandates to the Holocaust before apologizing. She also previously expressed support for the far-right conspiracy theory QAnon and been criticized for a series of racist comments. She has used derogatory language to refer to George Floyd, a Black man killed by Minneapolis police, calling him “Convicted Felon George Floyd” and saying Democrats were “worshiping” him.