WASHINGTON — White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Thursday criticized Donald Trump’s association with right-wing conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer, who has increasingly appeared with the former president as he seeks a second term.
“No leader should ever work with someone who spreads this kind of ugliness, this kind of racist poison,” Jean-Pierre said at a news conference.
The White House response comes after Trump attended a Sept. 11 memorial event on Wednesday with Loomer, who has previously pushed the false conspiracy theory that the terrorist attack was an “inside job.” A day earlier, Loomer also traveled with Trump on his plane and attended the presidential debate.
Jean-Pierre was asked during the daily White House briefing on Thursday afternoon about President Joe Biden’s response to a racist post this week in which Loomer attacked Harris’ Native American heritage. She was also asked about Loomer’s recent travels with Trump.
The spokesperson went on to criticize Loomer as someone “who continues to promote dangerous and offensive conspiracy theories such as the false idea — such as the false idea — that the tragic attacks of September 11 were an ‘inside job.’”
Loomer shared a video on social media last year that falsely claimed “9/11 was an inside job!” She has a long history of spreading conspiracy theories about migrants, school shootings, and Democrats, among other things.
In a message to X on Sunday, Loomer went after Harris, saying that if the vice president wins the November election, “the White House will smell like curry and White House speeches will be routed through a call center with the American people only being able to provide their feedback via a customer satisfaction survey at the end of the call that no one will understand.”
“It’s disgusting, these kinds of comments,” Jean-Pierre said when addressing Loomer during Thursday’s press conference. “It’s un-American to say these kinds of things, exactly the kind of hateful and divisive rhetoric that we should be condemning.”
The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Jean-Pierre’s comments.
On Wednesday, a Trump campaign spokesman issued a statement about the former president’s 9/11 commemoration, but did not answer questions about Trump’s travels with Loomer or whether the campaign was aware that she was spreading 9/11 conspiracy theories.
Loomer did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
On Thursday morning, Loomer continued to make unsubstantiated claims, this time aimed at Haitians.
“Haitian immigrants don’t just eat cats and dogs,” she said in a social media post. “They eat PEOPLE.”
Two days earlier, during the presidential debate in Philadelphia, Trump promoted a similar conspiracy theory, falsely claiming that Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, “are eating the dogs, the people that came in, they’re eating the cats. They’re eating the pets of the people that live there.”
He reiterated those comments during an interview with NBCUniversal-owned Arizona Telemundo station KTAZ on Thursday, saying that “some of the pets were taken by the migrants, and that’s unfortunate.”
The migrants “caused a lot of damage,” he added.
Haitians in Springfield have told NBC News that anti-immigrant rhetoric has left them “scared for their lives.” On Thursday, the city temporarily closed City Hall after receiving a bomb threat.
Trump’s ties to Loomer have outraged some Republicans on Capitol Hill, though most Republican lawmakers have declined to comment on their ties.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., said Wednesday that Loomer should remove her “extremely racist” post about Harris, adding that “this does not represent President Trump.”
On Thursday, a spokesman for Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., called Loomer “a stain on society.”
“Her vile, mean-spirited, destructive, racist rhetoric and views should have no place in this country,” spokesman Taylor Reidy said in a statement.
Trump has not distanced himself from Loomer’s recent comments or her conspiracy theories.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
