The Wall Street Journal editorial board has taken aim at former President Donald Trump for his recently reignited association with right-wing provocateur Laura Loomer. In an op-ed published on Friday, entitled “Donald Trump and Loomer Tunes: Why is the Former President Hanging with a 9/11 Conspiracist?”, the board raised concerns about Trump’s decision to align himself with the controversial figure, particularly in the lead-up to the ABC News debate against Vice President Kamala Harris.

Loomer, a 31-year-old activist known for her inflammatory rhetoric, was seen accompanying Trump during public events commemorating the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. She joined the GOP nominee during his visits to memorial sites in New York City and Pennsylvania, including the Flight 93 crash site. However, Loomer has previously drawn ire for suggesting that 9/11 was “an inside job,” a conspiracy theory highlighted by the Wall Street Journal in their op-ed.

“Does she think Osama bin Laden was a CIA front man?” the editorial board asks rhetorically, before adding that describing Loomer as simply “far right” is too mild for her extreme views.

In their critique, the WSJ editors also pointed to Loomer’s history of inflammatory comments. On X, she insulted Kamala Harris’s Indian heritage, writing that if Harris were elected, “the White House will smell like curry.” She has also taken aim at other public figures, such as Casey DeSantis, the wife of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, and cast conspiracies about Senator Lindsey Graham.

While Loomer’s provocations have long been on the fringe, her proximity to Trump raises broader concerns for the WSJ editorial board. “All of this would be ignorable, except that others close to Mr. Trump say he is listening to Ms. Loomer’s advice,” the board wrote. “People in the Trump campaign are trying to get her out of the former President’s entourage, to no avail. Even Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene thinks Ms. Loomer is damaging the former President’s election chances.”

Trump, when asked by the press about his association with Loomer, downplayed the controversy, saying, “Laura’s a supporter. I have a lot of supporters,” and added, “She’s a strong person; she’s got strong opinions,” without directly addressing her history of incendiary remarks.

The WSJ editorial board expressed its broader concern over the former president’s decision-making process, writing that Trump’s association with Loomer “feeds the concern among voters that Mr. Trump listens to crazy courtiers who flatter him and play to his vanity. Is this who the next four years are going to feature?”

The op-ed goes further, cautioning that the problem extends beyond Trump’s immediate electoral prospects. The editors argue that a troubling segment of the American right is increasingly populated by figures who peddle conspiracy theories and extreme rhetoric.

“A movement that used to admire William F. Buckley Jr. and Thomas Sowell now elevates a pseudo-historian who blames Winston Churchill for World War II and media personalities who sell falsehoods as a triumph for free speech,” the board lamented, concluding that this shift in priorities “isn’t an intellectual or political movement that is going to win converts, nor will it deserve them.”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)