- Judge commentator Laura Loomer on Tuesday night won the Republican primary for the 21st Congress District of Florida, where President Donald Trump is a resident.
- Trump retweeted a series of stories about Loomer’s surprise and praised her victory.
- “Great going Laura. You have a great chance against a Pelosi puppet!” Trump tweeted.
- The 27-year-old candidate, who has made headlines for her anti-Muslim rhetoric, is running for Democratic-introduced rep. Defeat Lois Frankel in the safe blue neighborhood.
- Loomer was banned from Twitter in 2018 after she tweeted hateful remarks to Rep. Ilhan Omar, one of the first Muslim women to serve in Congress.
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President Donald Trump congratulates right-wing activist and conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer after she won the Republican primary for the 21st Congress District of Florida on Tuesday night.
“Great going Laura,” Trump wrote on Twitter after sharing several stories about her victory. “You have a great chance against a Pelosi puppet!”
—Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 19, 2020
The 27-year-old is fighting for dismissal of four-time Democratic-introduced rep. Lois Frankel in the solid blue neighborhood, home of Trump’s official residence in Palm Beach and his resort in Mar-a-Lago. The race is considered a long shot for Loomer.
Trump did not support Loomer in her primary rune, but she did have the support of Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, a staunch supporter of the president. Loomer defeated well over five GOP challengers.
Prior to her candidacy, Loomer had drawn national attention to her anti-Muslim rhetoric, saying she should be banned from seeking elected office, calling Islam “cancer on society” and identifying herself as a “#ProudIslamophobe.”
She was permanently banned from Twitter in 2018, where she regularly denounced her racist beliefs, for violating the site’s terms of service against hate speech and behavior after she attacked Rep Ilhan Omar, one of the first two Muslim women to were elected to Congress that year along with Rep. Rashida Tlaib. Loomer also disrupted a campaign event for Omar and Tlaib in Minneapolis.
After launching the social media app, Loomer hacked into her Twitter headquarters in New York City, destroyed her account, and protested against conservative bias on the social media platform.
She has since reiterated emerging claims over Twitter, which several other elected Republicans, including Gaetz and Trump, say they believe as well.
Loomer also falsely claimed that mass shootings were staged to restrict gun ownership, a view supported by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who supported her candidacy. Loomer has occasionally contributed to Jones’ InfoWars site, as well as other right-wing websites.
Uber and Lyft ride-sharing services also banned Loomer, after tweeting in November 2017 that someone “should create a non-Islamic form of Uber or Lyft because I never want to support another Islamic immigrant driver.”
Loomer joins a growing body of other far-right Republican congressional candidates, including QAnon supporter Marjorie Taylor Greene, who won her primary last week and received congratulatory remarks from Trump as well.
Greene has also spread conspiracy theories and shared inflammatory language against Muslims.
—Marjorie Taylor Greene For Congress🇺🇸 (@mtgreenee) August 19, 2020
