Far-right influencer Laura Loomer continues to exercise “breathtaking influence” over President Donald Trump’s administration, writes MSNBC political contributor Steve Benen in a column published Wednesday, noting that the self-proclaimed “proud Islamophobe” can be tied to dozens of high-profile firings across multiple federal agencies.
The column comes in the wake of reports connecting the Tuesday firing of April Doss, the National Security Agency’s top lawyer, to Loomer, who amplified social media posts criticizing Doss last week, and later said in a text message that she had “flagged it for the right people,” according to The New York Times.
Benen notes the similarities of the circumstances surrounding Doss as it relates to Loomer with several other recent firings and resignations; Vinay Prasad resigning from the Food and Drug Administration, and Adam Schleifer at the Justice Department.
“On the surface, these disparate stories – one at the NSA, another at the FDA, another still at the Justice Department – might appear unrelated,” Benen wrote. “But the common thread isn’t exactly hiding well: a right-wing influencer is exercising breathtaking influence over Trump’s team.”
Loomer’s fingerprints could also be found all over the firings of more than half a dozen NSA officials back in April, who despite being turned down for a potential position on Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign team, maintains a direct line of communication with the White House, with her most recent meeting being a one-on-one with Vice President JD Vance last month.
Even as Loomer is “viewed as extreme” by “some of Trump’s far-right allies,” her continued influence over staffing decisions remains a hard sell for the president – even among his conservative base – but shows no signs of slowing, Bennen writes.
“Indeed, the president hasn’t even made much of an effort to deny Loomer’s influence, boasting to reporters last month that the conspiracy theorist is ‘a very good patriot’ who makes ‘recommendations’ he takes seriously,” Bennen wrote. “If there’s a compelling defense for this, I can’t think of it.”