Welcome to the online version From the political tablenightly newsletter that brings you the latest reporting and analysis from the NBC News Politics team on the campaign trail, the White House and Capitol Hill.
In today’s issue, we explore how far-right activist Laura Loomer’s access to Donald Trump worries her Republican allies. Plus, “Meet the Press” host Kristen Welker dives into the questions Kamala Harris and Trump danced around in the debate.
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Far-right activist Laura Loomer’s access to Trump reveals a crisis in his campaign
By Jonathan Allen, Julie Tsirkin and Vaughn Hillyard
No one can keep former President Donald Trump away from Laura Loomer — much to the chagrin of Republicans across the political spectrum.
Throughout the campaign, aides and advisers have done their best to protect him from Loomer, a far-right social media influencer, and others who stroke his ego and stir his baser political instincts.
They lost the battle this week when Loomer traveled on Trump’s jet to a conversation with Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday and to a 9/11 memorial service on Wednesday. The latter appearance infuriated some Democrats and Republicans because he has promoted conspiracy theories about a terrorist attack on the United States.
The fights are a big part of Loomer’s appeal to Trump. Loomer defends him as fiercely as he defends theories on the political fringe, such as the baseless claim that Haitian immigrants are eating cats and dogs in Springfield, Ohio. Trump promoted this in Tuesday’s debate.
His presence reflects Trump’s loss of faith in his campaign aides and their simultaneous fear of upsetting him during a crisis, according to people familiar with the situation. And that has drawn vocal criticism from members of his party, who don’t always see eye to eye.
On the other side of the GOP, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said Thursday that Loomer is “really toxic” and should not be in Trump’s circle. On Friday, Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina called Loomer a “crazy conspiracy theorist” who undermined Trump’s chances in the election.
And on the other side, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia called out Loomer on social media — stating that a win for Harris, who is Native American and black, would mean “the White House smells like curry and calls to the White House are facilitated through a call center” — as “appalling and extremely racist” and someone who does not represent Trump. (Loomer clapped back at all three with an X.)
The Republican senator, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid angering his party’s nominee, said Trump is jeopardizing his chances of winning — as are staff members who aren’t playing gatekeepers.
“Everybody is amazed that he would bring her on his plane for a conversation, but even more amazed that he would drive with her on 9/11. Things like that create distractions that you can’t overcome,” the senator said.
Trump, meanwhile, defended Loomer on Friday. “I don’t control Laura. Laura — she’s a free spirit. Well, I don’t know. I mean, look, I can’t tell Laura what to do,” he said.
Read more →
How a small online claim about immigrants eating pets made it into the conversation
Henry J. Gomez, Brandy Zadrozny, Allan Smith, and Julie Tsirkin
It is likely that this was the first time most Americans claimed to have heard of the baseless and racist rumor that Haitian immigrants eat cats and dogs.
But the false claim was flourishing in right-wing corners of the Internet even before Tuesday, and was corroborated by people close to Trump other than Loomer, including candidate JD Vance.
No one involved in Trump’s debate preparations or speaking on behalf of his campaign agreed to discuss the strategy on the record or to answer questions about how it transformed from fringe agitation to a vocal burst on the debate stage.
The case in Springfield, about 45 miles from Columbus in southwest Ohio, involves thousands of Haitian immigrants who have settled in the city in recent years, many of them there legally under federal programs after fleeing violence and political turmoil. For months, residents and political leaders, including Vance, have raised economic and public safety concerns, arguing that an influx of up to 20,000 immigrants to the city, which had a population of 59,000 in 2020, has strained resources.
Allegations of kidnapping, slaughtering and eating pets are more recent.
The national neo-Nazi group Blood Tribe was among the early spreaders of the rumor in August, posting about it on Gabi and Telegram, social networks favored by extremists. Although the leader of the group has taken credit for agreeing to Trump’s demands, the reach of the Blood Tribe is unknown; its accounts on these sites have less than 1,000 followers.
The rumor soon spread to mainstream social media such as Facebook and X. NewsGuard, a misinformation monitoring firm, traced the origin to an undated message from a private Facebook group shared on X in a screenshot posted on September 5.
Read more →
Impact on the real world: Bomb threats on Friday forced public schools and municipal buildings to evacuate and close for the second day in a row in Springfield, Ohio. Read more →
Trump and Harris did not answer the discussion questions
Author: Kristen Welker
In the first — and now likely only — conversation between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, the questions they didn’t answer were in many ways as revealing as the ones they did.
It started with the debate’s first question to Harris: Are Americans better off than they were four years ago?
Harris responded by citing his proposals for small business tax credits and a $6,000 child tax credit. He also attacked Trump by proposing tariffs and tax cuts for the wealthy. But he didn’t directly answer whether Americans are better off than they were four years ago, even though many economic statistics suggest so.
Later in the debate, Trump was asked if he would veto a federal abortion ban if it reached his desk — something executive JD Vance said on “Meet the Press” Trump would do.
ABC News’ Linsey Davis: But if I could only get yes or no. Because your running mate JD Vance has said you would veto it if it came across your desk.
Trump: Well, I didn’t discuss that with JD. Honestly, JD – and I don’t mind if he has a certain point of view, but I think he spoke for me, but I certainly didn’t.
Translation: Trump sidestepped the question — and threw Vance under the bus in the process.
Trump also did not answer other questions about whether he regretted anything about the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol, if he had a plan to replace Obamacare (“I have ideas of a plan,” he replied) and if he wanted Ukraine to win the war with Russia – which he was asked twice .
ABC News’ David Muir: Your time is up. Just to clarify the question, do you believe it is in the US interest for Ukraine to win this war? Yes or no?
Trump: I think it is in the best interest of the United States to finish this war and just get it done. Okay. Negotiate a contract. Because we have to prevent the destruction of all these human lives.
Harris, meanwhile, raised other questions about whether he would do anything on immigration unlike President Joe Biden, and whether he and the Biden administration will be held accountable after the withdrawal of U.S. soldiers who have fallen in Afghanistan.
On Afghanistan, Harris said he agreed with Biden’s decision to withdraw: “Four presidents said they would, and Joe Biden did,” he said. And he criticized the Trump administration’s deal with the Taliban: “Donald Trump, when he was president, negotiated one of the weakest deals you can imagine,” he said.
But he did not answer whether he was responsible for how the deadly retreat took place.
With the second debate between the two candidates in the air, reporters will have to answer these questions. Whether voters get answers is up to the candidates themselves.
🗞️ Today’s top stories
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📝 What is the plan? As Harris turns to the center, there are still many unanswered questions about what policies he wants to pursue if elected. Read more →
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👷 Working from 9 to 5, and then a little: Trump said at a campaign rally that he would eliminate taxes on overtime pay. Read more →< /a>
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✝️ Pope’s declaration: Pope Francis said he believes Trump and Harris are “both against life” and urged citizens to vote for whoever they consider “the lesser of two evils.” Read more →< /a>
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👀 Upcoming attractions: The Justice Department plans to file criminal charges for the hacking of Trump’s presidential campaign. Read more →
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✈️ On strike: Boeing factory workers in Oregon and the Seattle area are striking after overwhelmingly rejecting a new labor contract. Read more →
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⚖️ Trial: Smartmatic’s defamation suit against Newsmax over the 2020 election is set to go to trial later this month. Read more →
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🚀 To infinity and beyond: Two American astronauts stranded on the International Space Station through February said they plan to vote in November’s election from space. Read more →
That’s all from the Politics Desk for now. If you have any feedback – like it or not – send us an email at politicsnewsletter@nbcuni.com
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This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
