All of a sudden, Republicans are worried that Laura Loomer is too close to Trump and will be a bad influence on him. Sam Stein delves into Trump’s long, loooooong, history of spreading conspiracy theories and makes the case that anyone worried that Laura Loomer is going to suddenly turn Trump into a raving lunatic either (a) hasn’t been paying attention or (b) is actually worries about . . . something else. It’s an important piece and we can only publish essays like this for free—and with no ads—because we’re supported by our Bulwark+ members. Time is short. Come ride with us. Laura Loomer Is the Symptom, Not the DiseaseIf you’re worried about Trump being surrounded by conspiracy theorists right now . . . it’s a little late!
OVER THE PAST WEEK, a small number of elected Republicans (along with a few venerable conservative voices) have aired concerns about Donald Trump allowing right-wing provocateur Laura Loomer to accompany him on the campaign trail. It’s not so much that Loomer says offensive things, they argue. It’s that they fear the influence that her conspiracy-addled mind might have on the former president. One can understand the fear. But if the presence of Laura Loomer by Trump’s side is what makes you worry that Trump will get dragged into the dark depths of conspiracy land, well, you’re way too late. The former president has been a prolific conspiracy theorist for decades. Let’s take a tour through what Trump was thinking even before Loomer joined his entourage:
And it’s not just that Trump has long spread conspiracy theories. He has surrounded himself with conspiracy theorists, too. Before Loomer was riding on his plane, Trump was on the phone with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., expressing unfounded fears about vaccines. Kennedy, a leading vaccine skeptic, has not only endorsed Trump but seems poised to get a job in his administration. At the tail end of his time in the White House, Trump was surrounding himself with a veritable murderers’ row of conspiracy-minded operatives. Sidney Powell was promising to “Release the Kraken” to help him turn around his 2020 election loss. Trump wanted to offer her a White House job. Mike Lindell, whose expertise as a pillow salesman was also his main qualification on the subject of election law, was photographed heading to the White House with notes suggesting that Trump use “martial law if necessary” to turn around the vote. Patrick Byrne, the former Overstock CEO who had alleged that the FBI had pushed him to have an intimate relationship with Russian agent Maria Butina, was given an audience with Trump as well. Trump has told Michael Flynn, his QAnon-loving, exiled former national security advisor: “We’re going to bring you back.” NINE YEARS BEFORE Trump was pushing fears about Haitian migrants eating pets in Springfield, Ohio, he was leveling more pernicious theories about Syrian refugees in the United States. “They could be ISIS—I don’t know,” Trump said on the campaign trail in 2015. He went on to say that the resettlement of Syrian refugees in America could be “one of the great tactical ploys of all time.” That an army of 200,000 may have been unwittingly let into the country in Trojan horse fashion. As with the Haitians he has pledged to deport from Springfield, he said he would send those Syrian refugees back. The difference is that in 2015 a few Republicans spoke out against Trump. Among them was Jeb Bush, who was struggling to figure out how to combat Trumpism at the time. He sharply criticized Trump’s remark. “Send them all back? To a hellhole?” Bush told reporters. GOP voters, it turned out, were more persuaded by Trump’s conspiracy theories than by Jeb’s policy arguments. And it’s been that way ever since. Loomer isn’t the disease, she’s the product of a MAGA movement that both attracts and produces attention-hungry fantasists—a movement that routinely whips up threats against minority communities and—not so long ago—attempted an insurrection. If anything, maybe people ought to be concerned about the influence Donald Trump has had on Laura Loomer. Loomer was only 17 or 18 years old when Trump began pushing his birther conspiracy theories. She moved into adulthood as his mode of politics dominated the GOP; her entire persona has developed in response to the extremism of the Republican party, which has subjugated itself to the conspiracy-theorist-in-chief, Donald Trump. The newfound concern by “respectable” conservatives and Republicans over Loomer’s supposedly bad influence on Donald Trump is an act of self-delusion. The reason they’re raising these “concerns” now is not because they’re worried that Loomer will turn Trump into a raving lunatic. They’re simply worried that Trump might lose. You’re a free subscriber to Bulwark+. For unfettered access to all our newsletters and ad-free and member-only podcasts, become a paying subscriber. Did you know? You can update your newsletter preferences as often as you like. To update the list of newsletter or alerts you received from The Bulwark, click here.
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