At a key moment in Trump's campaign, social media instigator Laura Loomer is at his side

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

89% : On Thursday, former Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., took to social media to sarcastically encourage Trump to spend more time with Loomer, calling her a "perfect adviser.
74% : "His comments were echoed by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., a devoted supporter of Trump.
53% : In advance of the event, Trump sent each person a signed letter thanking him or her "for being a social media warrior in the fight to save our country," adding that he looked "forward to making viral content with you at the White House in just a few short months.
52% : Shortly before the debate began, Bruesewitz fielded a video call from Trump, who delivered a pep talk.
42% : "You guys are more important than I am, actually, because you'll get the word out, the way you want to get it out," Trump was recorded saying in a video of the call later posted to social media.
40% : Most shared images, generated with artificial intelligence, of dogs, cats and ducks being protected by Trump, along with other content underscoring the unfounded claim that the pets were being eaten.
35% : In April, The New York Times reported that Trump was considering hiring her for his campaign -- a plan he abandoned only after some of his supporters pushed back on the idea.
34% : On Monday, for example, O'Handley uploaded an image of Trump astride a giant cat as he held an AR-15-style rifle.
33% : Asked to comment about her association with the former president, the Trump campaign responded with a statement it had released Wednesday about the 9/11 anniversary that did not address questions about her ties to Trump.
30% : The last two posts by Trump on Truth Social before the debate were AI images of cats and ducks; one depicted cats in military fatigues carrying assault rifles and wearing MAGA hats; the other showed the candidate himself sitting on a plane amid a crowd of ducks and cats.
27% : It's hard to measure the impact such voices might have on Trump, and little if anything is known about what conversations he has had about his campaign with Loomer or other influencers.
26% : Then, roughly 26 minutes into the debate, Trump responded to a question about immigration by claiming that migrants were "eating the pets of the people that live" in Springfield.
21% : Roughly 18 conservative influencers gathered in a conference room in the Warwick Rittenhouse Square -- the same hotel where Harris was staying -- and pounded out ripostes to Harris' every utterance during the debate while vigorously defending Trump.
15% : On Thursday afternoon, Trump shared on Truth Social a post of hers attempting to debunk a story by Axios that said Harris was outperforming Trump on social media.
14% : Laura Loomer was backstage with the Trump entourage while Trump squared off against Vice President Kamala Harris.
9% : A far-right activist known for her endless stream of sexist, homophobic, transphobic, anti-Muslim and occasionally antisemitic social media posts and public stunts, Loomer has made a name for herself over the past decade by unabashedly claiming 9/11 was "an inside job," calling Islam "a cancer," accusing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' wife of exaggerating breast cancer and claiming that President Joe Biden was behind the attempt to assassinate Trump in July.
5% : But she took to X, her favorite medium, to attack both Greene and Graham, calling them disloyal to Trump while making a string of accusations about their personal lives.

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