Loomer was one of those on board Trump's plane on the way to Tuesday's debate against Kamala Harris in Philadelphia. The fact that the 31-year-old - who has previously described herself as "proud Islamophobe" and expressed support for conspiracy theories - was seen by the former president's side has caused people within Trump's own party to react.
Trump himself has taken Loomer's defense. When he was pressed for a comment on one of her posts on X at a press conference on Friday, where she writes that "The White House will smell of curry if Kamala Harris wins", he said he had not seen the post and continued:
I can't control Laura. Laura has to say what she wants. I can't tell her what to do.
Taking a distance
A little later, however, he published a post on his own platform Truth Social, where he partially distanced himself from Loomer.
"I don't agree with what she has said", Trump writes in the post, describing her as a private person and long-time supporter - "like millions of my other supporters who have grown tired of witnessing how radical left-wing Marxists and fascists attack and smear me".
Even on Wednesday, Loomer was part of Trump's entourage when he participated in several ceremonies to honor the victims of the 9/11 attacks. This raised some eyebrows, since the 31-year-old had published a video clip on social media just last year spreading false claims that the 2001 terrorist attacks were an "inside job".
Taylor Greene critical
The question now is whether Trump's seemingly mild distancing from his supporter will calm critics within his own party.
One of them is Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a sworn Trump supporter who has herself spread conspiracy theories. In an X post, she calls Loomer's curry comment about Kamala Harris "extremely racist" and emphasizes that this "does not represent President Trump".
Neither is Thom Tillis, Republican senator, impressed by seeing Loomer appear in the presidential candidate's immediate vicinity. On X, he describes her as a "crazy conspiracy theorist who regularly utters the worst kind of crap with the intention of sowing discord among Republicans".
