\u201cNo leader should ever associate with someone who spreads this kind of ugliness, this kind of racist poison,\u201d Karine Jean-Pierre said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
WASHINGTON \u2014 White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Thursday slammed Donald Trump\u2019s association with right-wing conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer<\/a>, who has become an increasing presence alongside the former president<\/a> as he seeks a second term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo leader should ever associate with someone who spreads this kind of ugliness, this kind of racist poison,\u201d Jean-Pierre said at a press briefing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The White House reaction comes after Trump attended a Sept. 11 remembrance event on Wednesday with Loomer, who has previously pushed the false conspiracy theory about the terrorist attack being an \u201cinside job.\u201d A day earlier, Loomer also traveled with Trump on his plane and attended the presidential debate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jean-Pierre was asked during the daily White House briefing on Thursday afternoon for President Joe Biden<\/a>\u2019<\/a>s\u2002<\/a>response to a racist post this week in which Loomer targeted Harris\u2019 Indian heritage. She was also asked about Loomer\u2019s recent travels with Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The press secretary went on to lambaste Loomer as someone \u201cwho continues to fan these types of dangerous and insulting conspiracy theories, like the false notion \u2014 like the false notion \u2014 that the tragic 9\/11 attacks were an \u2018inside job.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Loomer had shared a video on social media last year that falsely claimed \u201c9\/11 was an Inside Job!\u201d She has a long history of pushing conspiracy theories about migrants, school shootings and Democrats, among other topics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a post to X on Sunday, Loomer went after\u2002<\/a>Harris\u2002<\/a>by saying that if the vice president wins the election in November, \u201cthe White House will smell like curry & White House speeches will be facilitated via a call center and the American people will only be able to convey their feedback through a customer satisfaction survey at the end of the call that nobody will understand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt is repugnant, these types of comments,\u201d said Jean-Pierre when addressing Loomer during Thursday\u2019s press conference. \u201cIt is un-American to say these types of things, exactly the kind of hateful and divisive rhetoric that we should denounce.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Jean-Pierre\u2019s remarks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On Wednesday, a Trump campaign spokesperson provided a statement about the former president\u2019s 9\/11 commemoration, but did not answer questions about Trump\u2019s travels with Loomer or whether the campaign was aware that she has pushed 9\/11 conspiracy theories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Loomer has not responded to multiple requests for comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On Thursday morning, Loomer continued pushing baseless claims, this time targeting Haitians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHaitian immigrants aren\u2019t just eating cats and dogs,\u201d she said in a social media post. \u201cThey eat HUMANS.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Two days earlier, at the presidential debate in Philadelphia, Trump pushed a similar conspiracy theory, falsely claiming that Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, are \u201ceating the dogs, the people that came in, they\u2019re eating the cats. They\u2019re eating the pets of the people that live there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He doubled down on those remarks during an interview with Arizona Telemundo station KTAZ, which is owned by NBCUniversal, on Thursday, saying that \u201csome of the pets were taken by the migrants, and it\u2019s a shame.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The migrants were \u201cdoing a lot of damage,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n