Loomer, an outspoken Trump supporter who has embraced conspiracy theories, flew on the former president’s plane to the debate in Philadelphia on Tuesday and also traveled to the Sept.11 memorial services in New York and Pennsylvania on Wednesday. 

Allies have long worried that he’s too closely embraced the far-right activist who is known for her controversial social media activity. She most recently made racially disparaging comments about Vice President Kamala Harris, in which she posted that if Harris wins in November, “the White House will smell like curry & White House speeches will be facilitated via a call center.”

Trump declined to denounce Loomer’s comments during a press conference on Friday at his California golf club and defended including her in his close inner circle.

“Laura is a supporter. I don’t control Laura. Laura has to say what she wants; she is a free spirit,” Trump said in response to questions from reporters acknowledging the recent concern about his close association with her from political allies. “I can’t tell Laura what to do. Laura is a supporter. I have lots of supporters.”

“She is a strong person; she has strong opinions, and I don’t know what she said, but that’s not up to me,” Trump added.

In response to another question, Trump downplayed how Loomer traveled with him on his plane to the Philadelphia debate.

“A lot of people do. It’s a very big plane,” Trump said.

Trump’s decision to embrace Loomer has angered some of his top supporters on Capitol Hill, pitting even his most loyal supporters against one another in the aftermath of what some consider to be a subpar debate performance on Tuesday. 

Even though Trump continues to proclaim he won the debate “by a lot”, some Republicans say he missed opportunities to define Harris and took her bait when she attempted to knock him off-script. 

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) has joined a chorus of other Republicans like Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) who have voiced concerns about Loomer and have called on Trump to disassociate from her.

“Laura Loomer is a crazy conspiracy theorist who regularly utters disgusting garbage intended to divide Republicans. A DNC plant couldn’t do a better job than she is doing to hurt President Trump’s chances of winning reelection. Enough,” Tillis wrote on X on Friday.

Trump claimed not to know about Loomer’s embrace of conspiracy theories like claiming 9/11 was “an inside job,” or calling Islam “a cancer.”  

“I don’t know that much about it; I know she’s a big fan of the campaign,” Trump said. “She brings a spirit to us that a lot of people have. We have very spirited people. And in all fairness to her, she hates seeing what’s happened to the country.”

The Harris campaign slammed Trump’s press conference in California, claiming the former president “took his trainwreck on the debate stage straight to California.”

“In a rambling, defensive, often incoherent event to promote his golf course, he yet again showed the country how he is melting down,” said Harris campaign spokesman James Singer in a statement. “He said ‘nothing was done wrong’ in Charlottesville when neo-Nazis marched there, defended hanging out with a 9/11 conspiracy theorist, and doubled down on the conspiracy theories ripping an Ohio community apart.”

Speaking at his Ranchos Palos Verdes golf club on Friday, Trump repeatedly referred to Harris as “Comrade Kamala,” labeling her as a communist and portraying the state of California as a hellscape that has been destroyed by liberal politicians.  

“We cannot allow comrade Kamala Harris and the communist left to do to America what they did to California,” Trump said. “What they’ve done — Gavin [Newsom] Newscum and Kamala, I want to say Kamala more so — she destroyed San Francisco and she destroyed the state. When you look at the kind of destruction that’s taken place, it’s all man-made or woman-made destruction.”

During the hourlong press conference, Trump touched on a variety of topics, from criticism of how the ABC News debate was conducted to claiming Jews who vote for Democrats hate Israel.

“Any Jewish person that votes for Kamala is crazy. She wouldn’t go see the Prime Minister in Congress because she had a sorority party, which she considered to be more important,” Trump said, referring to Harris missing Benjamin Netanyahu’s joint address to Congress in July. “It’s a big deal when a prime minister comes to Congress and speaks and she doesn’t want to go because she’s at her sorority party, but that’s not the real reason — it’s because she hates Israel.”