Politics

Trump makes half-hearted attempt to distance himself from Laura Loomer amid backlash

Published

2 years ago

November 12, 2024

Trump makes half-hearted attempt to distance himself from Laura Loomer amid backlash

Donald Trump made a feeble attempt to fend off bipartisan outrage over his association this week with Laura Loomerthe far-right social media activist and failed congressional candidate. As he tried to distance himself somewhat from her controversial opinions, Trump said she is not connected to his campaign and that he disagrees with her “statements.”

“Laura Loomer doesn’t work for the Campaign. She’s a private citizen and longtime supporter,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social on Friday afternoon. “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!”

Trump did not say specifically which of Loomer’s statements he disagreed with, but he has plenty to choose from. Loomer, 31, has a long history of making racist, offensive statements: She has called herself a “proud Islamophobic,” cheered the death of thousands of migrantssaid 9/11 was an “inside job,” spread conspiracy theories about mass shootings and, more recently, posted a racist attack against Vice President Kamala Harris.

Loomer accompanied Trump to Tuesday’s debate and then to Sept. 11 memorial services the next day, which sparked especially intense criticism, given her past comments about 9/11. Trump’s fraternizing with Loomer this week caused such a stir that even Republicans Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Sen. Lindsey Graham have publicly urged him to disavow her.

Trump’s allies have long regarded the far-right provocateur as a “liability,” according to NBC News. But the former president’s affinity for Loomer is not new. He endorsed her in 2020 during the first of two failed runs for Congress. He has called her a “terrific” person and talked glowingly of her support for him. And The New York Times reported last year that Trump wanted to hire Loomer for a role in his campaign.

Now, Loomer’s high-profile appearances alongside Trump this week suggest that cracks may be widening in his campaign, NBC News reportsas his aides and advisers struggle to keep him away from people who encourage his worst political instincts.

Amid the backlash to her proximity, Trump has tried to walk a line between defending his association with Loomer and distancing himself from her beliefs. He told reporters on Friday that he does not “control” her and described her as a “free spirit.” Yet when asked about her conspiracy theories, he has pleaded ignorance, saying“I don’t know that much about it.”

Clarissa-Jan Lim

Clarissa-Jan Lim is a breaking/trending news blogger for BLN Digital. She was previously a senior reporter and editor at BuzzFeed News.

Politics

World Cup fuels ticketing reform demands

Published

7 hours ago

June 21, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Demands are growing for a political reckoning over ticket scams at the World Cup — and beyond.

The National Independent Venue Association and Fan Alliance, organizations representing and advocating for entertainment venues and artists respectively, sent a joint letter to Congress on Thursday, calling on lawmakers to ban speculative and ghost tickets, cases where resellers flog tickets they don’t actually have.

The letter — addressed to Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer — includes nearly two dozen accounts of fans who say they were scammed out of thousands of dollars trying to get tickets to the World Cup, which began last week. The groups are also asking fans to share their own stories with elected officials via the Fix the Tix Fan Action Center that launched last week.

“Every one of these stories erodes the public’s faith that consumers should and will be protected from fraud,” NIVA Executive Director Stephen Parker and Fan Alliance founder Donald Cohen wrote. “We urge Congress to work with us to prevent fraud like this in the future and finally enact ticket resale consumer protections that will protect Americans and ensure affordability.”

The letter flagged fans like Dacy Gillespie, who bought World Cup tickets for her sons on Christmas, only to learn on match day — months later — that the seller couldn’t deliver them. And Skylie Shore, who Parker and Cohen said spent well over $6,000 on tickets to the Scotland-Haiti match on June 13, but was forced to wait outside the stadium because she couldn’t access them as fans marched in on gameday.

“These examples reveal a consistent pattern: consumer deception, speculative ticket sales, and broken-hearted American families at the hands of resale ticketing companies like StubHub,” Parker and Cohen wrote.

In a statement, StubHub spokesperson Jack Sterne said that the platform does not allow speculative ticket sales, and blamed FIFA for users’ difficulty in accessing their tickets.

“We understand that attending the World Cup represents a significant investment in time and money, and we take our responsibility to every fan who books through our platform seriously,” Sterne said in a statement. “Many of the issues fans are facing trace back to the event organizer’s technology infrastructure, newly announced transfer restrictions, and a new app that was launched just a month ago.”

In response, FIFA said in a statement that the organization “can guarantee the validity and delivery of tickets purchased through its official platforms” and that FIFA.com/tickets “is the official ticket sales channel” for the tournament.

NIVA and Fan Alliance are urging congressional leadership to place universal price-gouging limits on ticket resale, enact stringent fines on perpetrators and a violation-reporting mechanism for ticket scams, and require secondary ticketing platforms to produce data on ticket fulfillment and consumer complaints.

The groups are not the only ones monitoring for evidence of shady ticket practices. Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway issued a consumer guidance in advance of the tournament, urging match-goers to beware of fraud and promising to hold offenders accountable. And the FBI in May put out a public service announcement, warning fans against purchasing tickets on copycat websites modeled on FIFA’s.

“With the World Cup coming to Kansas City, excitement is high and, unfortunately, so is the potential for fraud,” Hanaway said in her statement. “Missourians should be able to enjoy this once-in-a-generation event without fear of being deceived. My office will hold accountable anyone who seeks to exploit our families, and we stand ready to assist anyone who encounters suspicious activity.”