The access of the far-right activist Laura Loomer to Trump reveals a crisis in his election campaign

No one can keep former President Donald Trump away from Laura Loomer.

Throughout his third presidential campaign, his staff and advisers did their best to protect him from Loomer, a far-right social media influencer, and similar figures who stroke his ego and incited his basest political instincts.

They lost that battle this week, as Loomer traveled on Trump’s jet to his debate with Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday and to the 9/11 memorial services on Wednesday. Her presence at the memorial services angered some Democrats and Republicans, as one of the many conspiracy theories she has promoted is the false notion that the terrorist attack on the United States was an “inside job.” It was not.

Loomer’s return to Trump’s side pits key figures in his coalition against each other and tests the strength of a campaign already suffering from his subpar debate performance on Tuesday and the Democrats’ resurgence after switching candidates in July. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), key Trump allies in Congress who represent opposite ends of the Republican ideological spectrum, are publicly urging him to drop them. Loomer responded Thursday with a series of invectives about Graham.

Moreover, their presence reflects Trump’s loss of trust in his campaign aides and their accompanying fear of angering him in a time of crisis, people familiar with the situation say. Last month, he appointed his 2016 campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, as a counselor to his top advisers – a move widely seen as a rebuke of the existing leadership.

A senior official on Trump’s 2020 campaign said this explains why Loomer is no longer being kept at a distance.

“The people who have the authority to stop it are holding on to their jobs,” the former official said. “So do you want to mess with him?”

Loomer did not respond to a request for comment Thursday, but her fighting spirit is a big part of her appeal to Trump. She champions him as vehemently as she does fringe theories, like the baseless claim that Haitian immigrants eat cats and dogs in Springfield, Ohio. Trump floated that claim during Tuesday’s debate, creating what many Republicans believe is an unwelcome distraction from his substantive differences with Harris. Graham and Greene portray her as a counterproductive influence on Trump as he is locked in a tight battle with Harris for the presidency.

Graham said Thursday that Loomer was “really toxic” and not part of Trump’s circle. Loomer countered X with a schoolyard-style jibe.

“Senator Graham is working tirelessly day and night to re-elect President Trump,” Graham’s communications director Taylor Reidy responded in a statement to NBC News. “We may well lose this election. Ms. Loomer is a stain on society. Her vile, vicious, destructive, racist rhetoric and views should not be held in a prominent place in this country.”

A Republican senator who is also a Trump ally said Trump is “often drawn to people who like and support him.”

“It’s really stupid,” the senator added.

Loomer’s willingness to hit below the belt and her influence within the most aggressive elements of the Make America Great Again movement are enough reason for many of her critics to keep their mouths shut in public. Few elected Republicans want to recuse themselves from the affair. But many lawmakers and donors support Greene’s stance against Loomer, according to a source familiar with the situation, and some of them remind people close to Trump that Loomer lost two races for Congress.

Greene’s long-running feud with Loomer flared up again this week when Loomer wrote on X that a victory for Harris, who is of Indian descent and black heritage, would mean “the White House would smell of curry and White House speeches would be delivered through a call center.”

The remark sparked a rare agreement between Greene and President Joe Biden’s White House on what constitutes racism: Loomer’s words.

Trump’s advisers are trying to distance themselves from her without incurring his wrath, making it clear that she does not speak for his operation. Loomer is “not a member of our staff,” said a Trump campaign aide who asked not to be identified.

When NBC News asked for comment this week, Loomer responded in a text message: “Why do you want to talk to me? I do not work for President Trump.”

Last year, she said she would “love” serving as press secretary in a Trump White House.

Democrats sharply criticized Trump on Thursday for inviting Loomer to join him in the September 11 commemoration ceremony.

“It was shocking, irresponsible and offensive to the thousands of people who lost their lives on 9/11, including hundreds of brave first responders, members of the NYPD, FDNY and others who ran toward danger to help people escape danger and lost their lives in the process,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., told reporters.

“Donald Trump is a conspiracy-mongering racist arsonist and pathological liar,” he added. “And the fact that on September 11, this sacred day, he would bring a 9/11 conspiracy theorist to participate in events during this solemn commemoration should shock the conscience of all decent Americans, and I believe it does just that.”

A Trump campaign official said Wednesday that the memorial service was not about politics.

“President Trump put politics aside and stood alongside Kamala Harris and Joe Biden to honor those who lost their lives in the worst terrorist attack in our nation’s history,” the official said in a statement. “This day was about none other than the souls who are no longer with us, their families and the heroes who bravely stepped in to save their fellow Americans on that fateful day.”

A Republican senator, who asked not to be identified so as not to upset his party’s candidate, said Trump was jeopardizing his chances of winning – and so was the staff, which is not acting as gatekeepers.

“Everyone is stunned that he brought her on his plane to the debate, but even more stunned that she will be flying with him on the anniversary of 9/11. That’s an insurmountable distraction,” the senator said.

When asked whether Trump’s aides were supporting Loomer out of fear for their jobs, the senator said, “That’s what happens in almost every election campaign, but it’s definitely what happens in this one.”