CNN
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As Donald Trump posed for a photo with firefighters on Wednesday — one of several moments to commemorate the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the United States — a small group of the former president’s inner circle looked on from outside Engine Company 4 Ladder Company 15 in New York City.

The group included the two most powerful figures in Trump’s orbit, his co-campaign managers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles. Alongside them was another figure whose influence on the Republican candidate cannot be ignored: far-right provocateur Laura Loomer.

Of all the days on which Loomer might be considered a traveling companion, September 11th was the most notable. Last year, she posted a video on social media claiming that the attack on the World Trade Center towers was an “inside job,” a illogical but widespread conspiracy theory that continues to haunt the families of victims and survivors. Her anti-Muslim social media posts eventually earned her a Twitter ban that lasted until billionaire Elon Musk bought the website now known as X and reinstated her account.

When asked why Loomer accompanied Trump to New York and then Pennsylvania for his Patriot Day trips, a campaign aide declined to comment directly on her presence. Instead, she focused on the presence of Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden, who represented both parties.

“That day was about none other than the souls who are gone, their families and the heroes who courageously rose to save their fellow Americans on that fateful day,” the official said.

Loomer said in a telephone interview with CNN: “I don’t see what the big deal is about me going to a 9/11 memorial. The people who greeted President Trump at the memorial were actually very happy to see me and said, ‘Thank you for coming.'”

She added: “I have never denied that Islamic terrorists carried out the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In fact, the media has called me anti-Muslim precisely because I spend so much time talking about the threats of Islamic terrorism in America.”

Loomer’s proximity on Wednesday was indicative of her influence over Trump of late. She knows his personal number and has used it, a source familiar with the relationship told CNN. (A separate source insisted she’s respectful of his team and tries to reach out to him through normal channels.) She’s traveled with him a handful of times, appears frequently at events where he speaks, and there have been times when her bombastic social media posts have appeared as a preview of Trump’s next line of attack.

The former president has long embraced conspiracy theories and has frequently aligned himself with those who fall for them, especially if they support him. He entered the political arena as a leading purveyor of myths about President Barack Obama’s birthplace. And after losing the 2020 election, Trump surrounded himself with people who claimed to have questionable or debunked evidence to prove he won.

But several people close to the former president say Loomer contributed to some of the unpalatable conspiracy theories Trump has spread since Harris replaced Biden on the running list, a move that has left the GOP nominee increasingly uneasy about the political landscape he now faces.

“He wasn’t the one who came up with that talking point,” one adviser said after Trump questioned Harris’s ethnicity during a particularly tense interview at the National Association of Black Journalists convention. The adviser pointed the finger at Loomer, who had baselessly accused Harris on X of hiding her black heritage in the run-up to Trump’s appearance. Others pushed back against the idea that she was behind Trump’s remarks.

“I don’t think it’s racist to mock the fact that Kamala Harris is trying to appease every group of people she encounters in an attempt to convince them that she shares the same identity,” Loomer told CNN. She declined to comment on whether she influenced Trump’s comments.

When Trump landed in Philadelphia on Tuesday for his debate against Harris, Loomer was among the closest allies to step off his private jet. Some saw it as no coincidence that an erratic Trump exclaimed from the debate stage hours later that immigrants were “eating the pets” of Ohioans, a reference to a rapidly escalating rumor about Haitian migrants that had been circulated this week by the online right, including Loomer. Trump’s own running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance, had been spreading the false claim before admitting Tuesday that it might not be true.

Trump surprised some of his advisers when he brought up the rumors during Tuesday night’s debate, sources familiar with the situation told CNN.

But while some of Trump’s allies admitted after the debate that the back-and-forth wasn’t helpful, Trump’s advisers doubled down, claiming the story helped them draw attention to immigrant crime in the U.S.

Two days before the debate, Loomer said that if Harris, who is half Indian, wins, “the White House will smell like curry and speeches in the White House will be routed through a call center.”

It was even a step too far for Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, herself a notorious fire-eater known for her conspiracy theories, who wrote on social media that Loomer’s post was “horrible and extremely racist.”

She added: “It does not represent who we are as Republicans or MAGA.”

Loomer told CNN about the post: “It’s interesting how the media is once again trying to falsely accuse me of being a racist. This is a woman who is on video cooking Indian food with Indian celebrities talking about how she likes to cook curry.”

Trump’s embrace of Loomer has stunned many conservatives, who see her antics as detrimental to the mission of getting Republicans elected.

Steve Deace, a conservative podcast host, told CNN that Loomer “has absolutely nothing to offer Donald Trump other than a lot of collateral damage on social media that makes people not want to vote for him when he should.”

“She is the manifestation of the point where returns diminish,” he added.

Loomer has made a career out of courting controversy. Emerging from the far-right online ecosystem, she has regularly tested the willingness of internet companies to enforce their terms of service. She once described herself as a “proud Islamophobe,” tweeting in 2018 that “someone needs to create a non-Muslim form of Uber or Lyft because I will never support a Muslim immigrant as a driver again.” She was eventually banned from Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Loomer told CNN she is not “anti-Muslim.”

She ran twice for Congress in her home state of Florida, including once to represent Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home, campaigning almost exclusively on her loyalty to the former president. She lost both races.

Her unwavering loyalty to Trump was on full display during the GOP primaries, when she booed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis with a bullhorn at public appearances and spread unsubstantiated claims about his wife’s cancer diagnosis online.

While LaCivita and Wiles managed to marginalize many of the interlopers who clung to Trump’s first two attempts at the White House, Loomer has held on.

In August of last year, Trump even suggested that the campaign hire Loomer for an official role, sources told CNN at the time. His advisers and allies, furious at the idea, shot it down, and she was never hired. On social media, Loomer insisted that she does not work for the political operation, saying she is “simply a loyal advocate” and believes Trump deserves “unconditional loyalty.”

Still, the Trump stalwart has managed to gain nearly unlimited access to the former president as he once again seeks the nation’s highest office. Trump spotted her in the audience at a cryptocurrency conference this summer and heaped praise on her, telling the crowd, “She’s a wonderful person, a wonderful woman.”

“He likes her,” said one person close to Trump. “Remember, there was a discussion last year about possibly hiring her. She hasn’t been hired yet, but it’s not unusual for some of these people to end up on a plane for a day or two.”

While Loomer’s travels with Trump reflect her elevated status within his circle, it has also created tensions among some in Trump’s inner circle.

Since the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, earlier this summer, heightened security on Trump’s Boeing 757 has resulted in fewer seats for advisers and allies. The arrangement has irked some advisers and allies forced to fly commercially to Trump events, while creating the appearance, at least internally, of special status for those who get coveted seats aboard what’s become known as “Trump Force One.”

Loomer told CNN she also accompanied Trump on a plane the day after his assassination attempt.

“He wanted me to be on a plane with him the day after he was almost assassinated. I was with him. I flew with him to the (Republican National Convention) so that it could show that I’m a trustworthy person, that I stand behind him,” Loomer said.

With the exception of Loomer, those who stepped off the plane with him for Tuesday’s debate were his closest aides and advisers, and those who had helped him prepare for the showdown with Harris — Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, former Hawaii Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard and longtime adviser Stephen Miller.