CNN
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As Donald Trump mingled and posed for photos with firefighters on Wednesday – one of several events to commemorate the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States – a small entourage of the former president’s inner circle watched outside Engine Company 4 Ladder Company 15 in New York City.

The group included the two most powerful figures in Trump’s circle, his co-campaign managers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles. Close to them was another person whose influence on the Republican candidate should not be underestimated: the right-wing extremist provocateur Laura Loomer.

Of all the days Loomer counted as a travel companion, 9/11 was particularly notable. Last year, she posted a video on social media claiming the attack on the World Trade Center towers was an “inside job,” an illogical but widespread conspiracy theory that haunts the families of victims and survivors to this day. Her anti-Islam social media posts eventually earned her a ban from Twitter, which lasted until billionaire Elon Musk bought the site, now known as X, and restored her account.

When asked why Loomer accompanied Trump on his Patriot Day trips to New York and then Pennsylvania, a campaign official declined to comment directly on her presence, focusing instead on the bipartisan appearance with Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden.

“This day was about none other than the souls who are no longer with us, their families and the heroes who bravely stepped in to save their fellow Americans on that fateful day,” the official said.

Loomer said in a phone interview with CNN: “I don’t understand what the problem is with me going to a 9/11 memorial. In fact, the people who greeted President Trump at the memorial were very happy to see me and said, ‘Thank you for coming.'”

She added: “I have never denied that the 9/11 terrorist attacks were carried out by Islamic terrorists. In fact, the media labels me as anti-Muslim precisely because I spend so much time talking about the threats of Islamic terrorism in America.”

Loomer’s proximity on Wednesday was an example of her influence over Trump of late. She knows his personal phone number and has used it, a source familiar with the relationship told CNN. (Another source stressed she respects his team and uses the usual channels when trying to reach him.) She has accompanied him on a few trips, frequently appears at events where he speaks, and there have been times when her bombastic social media posts have seemed to foreshadow Trump’s next line of attack.

The former president has long been a fan of conspiracy theories and has regularly allied himself with those who spread those theories, especially when they support him. He entered the political arena as a leading spreader of myths about President Barack Obama’s birthplace. And after losing the 2020 election, Trump surrounded himself with people who used questionable or disproven evidence to claim they could prove his victory.

But several people close to the former president say Loomer has contributed to some of the inappropriate conspiracy theories Trump has spread since Harris replaced Biden on the ballot, a move that has left the Republican nominee increasingly unsettled by the political landscape he now faces.

“He wasn’t the one who brought up that talking point,” one aide said when Trump questioned Harris’s race in a particularly tense interview at the National Association of Black Journalists convention. The aide pointed the finger at Loomer, who baselessly accused Harris on X of hiding her black heritage from Trump’s appearance. Others dismissed the idea that she was behind Trump’s remarks.

“I don’t think it’s racist to make fun of Kamala Harris pandering to every single group of people she meets to convince them that she has the same identity as them,” Loomer told CNN. She did not comment on whether she influenced Trump’s comments.

When Trump landed in Philadelphia on Tuesday ahead of his debate against Harris, Loomer was among the close allies who disembarked from his private plane. Some thought it was no coincidence that hours later, an erratic Trump shouted from the debate stage that immigrants were “eating the pets” of Ohioans, referring to a fast-spreading rumor about Haitian migrants circulated this week by the online right, including Loomer. Trump’s own running mate, Sen. JD Vance, had spread that false claim before admitting Tuesday that it might not be true.

Trump surprised some of his advisers when he brought up the rumors during the debate on Tuesday night, sources familiar with the situation told CNN.

But while some of Trump’s allies admitted after the debate that the back-and-forth had not been helpful, Trump’s advisers stood by their commitment, claiming the storyline supported their efforts to draw attention to migrant crime in the United States.

Two days before the debate, Loomer said that if Harris, who is half Indian, wins, “the White House will smell like curry and the White House speeches will be delivered through a call center.”

This even went too far for Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, who is herself a notorious agitator and known for spreading conspiracy theories. She wrote on social media that Loomer’s post was “appalling and extremely racist.”

She added: “It does not represent who we are as Republicans or MAGA.”

Loomer told CNN of the post: “It’s interesting how the media wants to falsely accuse me of being racist again. Here is a woman on video cooking Indian food with Indian celebrities and talking about how much she loves cooking curry.”

Trump’s embrace of Loomer has baffled many conservatives who believe her antics are damaging the mission of getting Republicans elected.

Steve Deace, a conservative podcast host, told CNN that Loomer “has absolutely nothing to offer Donald Trump except a lot of collateral damage on social media that makes people not want to vote for him when he should be.”

“It is the manifestation of the point of diminishing returns,” he added.

Loomer has made a career out of stirring up controversy. She hails from the far-right online ecosystem and regularly tests the willingness of internet companies to enforce their terms of service. She once described herself as a “proud Islamophobe” and tweeted in 2018 that “someone needs to create a non-Islamic version of Uber or Lyft because I never want to support an Islamic immigrant driver again.” She was eventually banned from Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Loomer told CNN she was not “anti-Muslim.”

She ran for Congress twice in her home state of Florida, once representing Trump’s home state of Mar-a-Lago, basing her campaign almost exclusively on her loyalty to the former president. She lost both races.

Her unwavering loyalty to Trump was clearly demonstrated during the Republican primaries, when she booed Florida Governor Ron DeSantis with a megaphone during public appearances and spread unsubstantiated claims online about his wife’s cancer diagnosis.

Even though LaCivita and Wiles managed to marginalize many of the infiltrators who clung to Trump’s first two attempts to get into the White House, Loomer persevered.

In August of last year, Trump even suggested the campaign hire Loomer for an official role, sources told CNN at the time. His advisers and allies were outraged by the idea and rejected it. Loomer was never hired. On social media, Loomer stressed that she did not work for the political organization. She was “simply a loyal advocate” and believed Trump deserved “unconditional loyalty.”

Still, the Trump supporter has almost unlimited access to the former president, who is running for the highest office in the land again. Trump spotted her in the crowd at a cryptocurrency conference this summer and praised her, telling the audience, “She’s a fantastic person, a great woman.”

“He likes her,” said one person close to Trump. “Remember, last year there was a discussion about possibly hiring her. She wasn’t hired, but it’s not unusual for some of these people to end up on a plane for a day or two.”

While Loomer’s trips with Trump reflect her high status in his circle, they have caused tensions within parts of Trump’s inner circle.

Since the assassination in Butler, Pennsylvania, earlier this summer, an increased security presence on Trump’s Boeing 757 has meant fewer seats are available for advisers and allies. The policy has angered some advisers and allies who have been forced to fly to Trump’s events on commercial airliners, but it also creates the impression, at least internally, that those who get one of the coveted seats aboard the so-called “Trump Force One” enjoy special status.

Loomer told CNN that she also accompanied Trump on the plane the day after his assassination.

“He wanted me to be on the plane with him the day after he was almost assassinated. I was with him. I flew with him to the (Republican National Convention) so he could show that I was a trustworthy person and that I had his back,” Loomer said.

Except for Loomer, those seen getting off the plane with him at Tuesday’s debate were his closest aides and advisers, as well as those who had prepared him for the confrontation with Harris: Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard from Hawaii and his longtime adviser Stephen Miller.