Who is Laura Loomer, and why are some blaming her for Trump’s false pet-eating claims?


During , Republican candidate Donald Trump made an unfounded claim that Haitian immigrants in the town of Springfield, Ohio were eating people’s pet cats and dogs.
His debate opponent, vice-president Kamala Harris, openly laughed at the claim, which was dismissed as false by local authorities. Debate moderator David Muir also pushed back on the claim, acknowledging it had been debunked.
But it begs the question: who convinced Trump to bring it up?

Some republicans are pointing the finger at Laura Loomer, a conservative activist who aired the theory to her 1.2 million followers on social media platform X just a day earlier.

Donald Trump’s perplexing claim

Trump has declared a “monumental victory” over Harris in their first, and likely only, live presidential debate on Tuesday night (Wednesday morning Australian time).

But the former US president is now being widely criticised for promoting several falsehoods — from the economy to immigration and abortion.

Perhaps the most perplexing was his claim illegal immigrants in Springfield are: “eating the dogs, they’re eating the cats, they’re eating the pets of the people who live there”.

The rumour had been circulating on the internet and was promoted by Republican vice-presidential candidate JD Vance (his post on X has attracted more than 11 million views) and Loomer before Trump repeated it in the debate.

Former US president Donald Trump’s claim that immigrants were eating dogs and cats in Springfield, Ohio, brought incredulous laughter from his presidential debate opponent Kamala Harris. Source: Getty / Anadolu

Who is Laura Loomer?

Loomer — a 31-year-old, self-described “investigative journalist” — has recently joined Trump’s entourage.
Last year, she shared a video on X that claimed the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001 were an “inside job”.

In the video, Loomer claimed the attacks were related to then-US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s announcement of $2.3 trillion in “lost” government funds on 10 September 2001.

A woman wearing a stripy blazer holding her phone horizontally in her hand.

Laura Loomer joined Donald Trump at a New York fire station in lower Manhattan to commemorate September 11, despite promoting a false conspiracy that it was “an inside job”. Source: AAP / Matt Rourke

The post misrepresented Rumsfeld’s remarks, which were about a challenge in tracking funds due to outdated technology, and the day before September 11 was not the first time the problem had been discussed.

Loomer is also a promoter of centred on the belief that Trump is fighting the ‘deep state’.

Her stepped-up presence in the Republican campaign comes as Trump made several staff changes in recent weeks, including bringing back veterans of his 2016 and 2020 campaigns, such as former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski.

But Loomer’s presence around the former president has brought with it vile attacks on Harris.
In a post to X, Loomer said the White House “will smell like curry” if Harris — who has Indian heritage — was elected.

Far-right Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene condemned the post as “racist” on Wednesday, in a sign of division among Trump loyalists.

Loomer also circulated an unfounded allegation that Harris had worn earphones disguised as earrings during the debate.

Is Loomer behind the pet-eating lie?

, scrutiny has turned to the speculated role of Loomer.
Given she had shared baseless claims about Haitian migrants on social media, some now believe she parroted the claims while travelling alongside the former president on his private plane to the presidential debate in Philadelphia.
US news website Semafor has since quoted an unnamed person close to the Trump campaign as saying they are “100%” concerned about Loomer’s influence on Trump.
Earlier this year, Trump proposed giving Loomer an official role in his campaign, but staffers resisted the idea.

With additional reporting by the Associated Press



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