Donald Trump allies are worried that the former president’s ties to right-wing activist Laura Loomer could cost him votes in key battleground states.
The allies told NBC News that there are “real concerns” about Loomer and Trump’s association, especially in the wake of her racist social media post about Vice President Kamala Harris this week, where she wrote that the “White House will smell like curry & White House speeches will be facilitated via a call center” if Harris wins the presidential election.
“She has to go. Laura Loomer cannot stay. She just can’t. She is unapologetic,” one Trump ally told NBC News, adding: “This woman attacked the vice president of the United States in such a racist manner. It was appalling and she hasn’t apologized.”
Several allies, who were granted anonymity to speak candidly, warned that Loomer’s rhetoric about Harris could hurt Trump’s standing with critical voters, particularly in the key states of Georgia and North Carolina, which have large Indian American and Hindu populations.
A second Trump ally told NBC News that Trump has been directly warned about this “by people in Georgia and North Carolina.”
The former president was told, “If you don’t fix this, it will be a problem,” the ally added.
A statement provided to NBC News from the Georgia Chapter of the American Hindu Coalition — which bills itself as a nonpartisan advocacy group — and posted by Greene on social media, also warned about Loomer’s rhetoric, saying that while “President Trump and his dedicated allies — such as Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene — have worked tirelessly to build a future where every American can thrive … recent statements that attempt to divide our community along racial or ethnic lines, specifically those made by Ms. Laura Loomer, are completely unacceptable and do not reflect the values of this movement or the America we seek to build.”
One ally said they were glad Trump shared part of the statement by the group on his TruthSocial page, saying it was an indication he is taking the matter seriously.
Indian Americans account for a bit more than 1% of the total U.S. population, according to Census estimates. Georgia has the highest share of any 2024 battleground at about 1.5% of the state population, followed by Pennsylvania and Michigan at 1.2% and North Carolina at 1.1%.
Georgia and North Carolina are among the closest states in the 2024 presidential race, with most public polling showing the margins between Harris and Trump within a few percentage points in both places. Critically, both states have recent track records of ticket-splitting, with a slice of MAGA-skeptical voters proving decisive.
In 2022, Georgia voters deemed Trump-endorsed Senate candidate Herschel Walker unfit even while re-electing Republican Gov. Brian Kemp by a 7.5-point margin, two years after Trump narrowly lost the state. Walker, meanwhile, finished a point behind Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock on the same ballot before Warnock won in a December 2022 runoff.
In North Carolina, voters elected Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper in 2016 and 2020 even while Trump narrowly carried the state at the top of the ticket. And this year, Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson has had trouble getting traction in public polling of the governor’s race amid broad concerns about his policies and rhetoric on abortion, families and other issues.
“There are people who want to be helpful, who want to win, and have the operations to do so. But there is a bridge that those people won’t cross, and it seems right now that Donald Trump is intent on crossing it,” a Georgia Republican strategist said. “If he crosses that bridge with people like Laura Loomer, the people he needs to win won’t be on the other side of it with him.”
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Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said in response to the criticism, “These anonymous sources have no idea what they’re talking about.”
“President Trump is leading in Georgia and North Carolina because voters in both states are devastated by Kamala’s inflation and open border policies — those are the issues that Americans trust President Trump to lead on and those are the issues that will decide this election,” she added.
On Friday, Trump appeared to attempt to distance himself from Loomer, telling reporters at a press conference in California, “I don’t control Laura. Laura — she’s a, she’s a free spirit. Well, I don’t know. I mean, look, I can’t tell Laura what to do.”
Asked by NBC News after the press conference whether Trump was familiar with some of the conspiracy theories Loomer spreads, the former president said, “I don’t know that much about it. No, I don’t.”
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He added, “I know she’s a big fan of the campaign, but I really don’t know.”
Loomer has spread baseless conspiracy theories about undocumented immigrants registering to vote and about mass shootings helping Democrats get elected. During the Trump administration, she was banned from some social media platforms for anti-Muslim posts.
Earlier this week, Loomer promoted a false claim that during the presidential debate, Harris wore audio earrings that helped her communicate with advisers from the stage. The theory was widely debunked.
Later in the day, Trump wrote on his Truth Social account that Loomer “doesn’t work for the Campaign. She’s a private citizen and longtime supporter. I disagree with the statements she made but, like the many millions of people who support me, she is tired of watching the Radical Left Marxists and Fascists violently attack and smear me, even to the point of doing anything to stop their Political Opponent, ME!”
Asked whether this statement did enough to distance the former president from Loomer, a second Trump ally said, “I think he needs to go further. She needs to be completely removed.”
“I will not tolerate it and I just cannot tolerate her comments, I don’t want her anywhere near us at all. This is not who we are as a party,” the ally added.
Reached by NBC News via text, Loomer repeated Trump’s claim that she does not work for his campaign and blasted those raising concerns about her, saying, “[H]ow come they are gossiping to the media instead of knocking on doors and campaigning in Georgia and North Carolina? Gossiping is much easier than working. I work everyday in support of Donald Trump. I spend over 19 hours a day working in support of Donald Trump and have dedicated all of my time to helping him win. Perhaps they should do the same.”
Trump’s Friday comments came after Loomer spent days traveling with the former president, a move that raised concerns among GOP lawmakers and strategists.
Earlier that day, Loomer made another statement on X that garnered fresh criticism. Just two days after the 23rd anniversary of the 9/11 attacks — a day she spent with Trump attending 9/11 memorial services — she wrote, “23 years later, and there’s still a lot of unanswered questions,” alongside a video of Trump in 2001 questioning whether airplanes could hit the Twin Towers with enough force to collapse them.
She’s long spread conspiracy theories about the 9/11 attacks, including saying that the attacks were “an inside job.”
The right-wing social media influencer also engaged in several social media spats this week with Republican lawmakers like Greene of Georgia and Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.
After Loomer’s post referencing the smell of curry, Greene responded to her, writing, “This is appalling and extremely racist. It does not represent who we are as Republicans or MAGA. This does not represent President Trump. This type of behavior should not be tolerated ever.”
The response prompted Loomer to publish a string of posts against Greene. She similarly attacked Graham after he publicly called on Trump to distance himself from Loomer.
Concern about her proximity to Trump also spiked on Tuesday night during the former president’s debate with Harris in Philadelphia, where he made baseless claims about Haitian immigrants in Ohio eating people’s pets.
The comments were based on a conspiracy theory that originated online and spread throughout far-right circles, including on Loomer’s own social media account.
