Donald Trump has defended his ties with Laura Loomer, who has drawn fire from some of his Republican allies for embracing conspiracy theories and making racist comments, including against Kamala Harris.
"Laura has been a supporter of mine. Just like a lot of people are supporters, and she's been a supporter of mine. She speaks very positively of the campaign," Trump, the former president, said on Friday at a news conference in Southern California.
He was responding to a question from a reporter about his allies expressing concern about his close relationship with Loomer in recent days.
"I don't control Laura. Laura - she's a free spirit. Well, I don't know. I mean, look, I can't tell Laura what to do," Trump said.
"She is a strong person, she's got strong opinions, and I don't know what she said, but that's not up to me," he added.
Several of Loomer's posts on social media this week came under fire, including one where she nodded to a conspiracy theory about the 9/11 attacks.
"23 years later, and there's still a lot of unanswered questions," Loomer posted on Friday, alongside a video of Trump in 2001 questioning whether aeroplanes could cause explosions like the ones that happened at the Twin Towers on 9/11," Loomer wrote.
Loomer, often seen as a right-wing conspiracy theorist, in another post on Sunday, said the "White House will smell like curry & White House speeches will be facilitated via a call centre" if Harris wins the November 5 presidential election.
Harris, a Democrat, will take on Trump in the November election.
NBC News asked Trump whether he'd been informed of Loomer's conspiracy theories.
"I don't know that much about it. No, I don't," he said, adding, "I know she's a big fan of the campaign, but I really don't know." Trump later sought to distance himself from Loomer's statements, though without specifying which ones.
In a Truth Social post, Trump said that Loomer "doesn't work for the Campaign. She's a private citizen and longtime supporter. " Even in that post, Trump defended Loomer and said: "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." Several Republicans denounced Loomer for her remarks.
Republican Senator Thom Tillis said Loomer was a "crazy conspiracy theorist who regularly utters disgusting garbage intended to divide Republicans".
"The history of statements by Ms. Loomer are beyond disturbing," Senator Lindsey Graham, also a Republican told The Washington Post on Thursday.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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