Pete Buttigieg
Pete Buttigieg (Photo: US Gov.)

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has weighed in on controversial Donald Trump acolyte and friend Laura Loomer. 

Loomer’s name has exploded over social media in the last 48 hours after she launched brutal attacks on fellow Trump supporters: notably Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lindsey Graham. 

Loomer has twice run for political office and failed. She has since made a name for herself as a far-right podcaster and conspiracy theorist. 

Loomer, 31, is a loyal devotee of Donald Trump and regular attendee at Mar-a-Lago. She traveled with Trump by plane to the debate in Philadelphia earlier this week. She was also caught on camera with him attending a 9/11 event on Wednesday. 

This is despite the fact Loomer has previously described 9/11 as an “inside job”. She has also used racist dog whistles to attack Kamala Harris. She recently said that if Harris wins the Presidency, “the White House will smell like curry & White House speeches will be facilitated via a call center.”

This line was even too much for Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. She took to social media to blast Loomer, a former friend. 

“This is appalling and extremely racist. It does not represent who we are as Republicans or MAGA,” claimed Greene, resharing Loomer’s comments. “This does not represent President Trump. This type of behavior should not be tolerated ever. @LauraLoomer should take this down.”

Loomer slams Marjorie Taylor Greene and Linsey Graham

Loomer quickly responded with a blistering, very personal attack on “trailer trash harpy” Greene. 

“She’s irrelevant and she’s lashing out because she is jealous,” said Loomer.

Another Republican to voice concern over Trump’s close relationship with Loomer is South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham. In a news interview this week, Graham called Loomer “really toxic” and expressed the hope Trump distance himself from her. 

“I think that the president would serve himself well to make sure this doesn’t become a bigger story,” Graham told HuffPost.

Loomer reacted yesterday with another very personal attack, claiming Graham has “never been loyal to President Trump.” She went on to suggest, without evidence, that Graham is gay and needs to come out of the closet. 

“When is Lindsay coming out of the closet?” Loomer tweeted.

“We all know you’re Gay, Lindsey…. And that’s ok. It’s ok. It’s 2024. There’s nothing wrong with Gay people. 

“I like men too. You and I have something in common we can bond over. 

“Just be honest about it. Nobody is going to judge you for being open about who you are.”

Rumors around Graham’s sexuality have circulated for years. In 2018, Chelsea Handler made a joke about Graham being gay. Asked for comment by a TMZ cameraman, Graham said at the time, “[Handler] knows zero about me. To the extent that it matters, I’m not gay.” 

Queerty has reached out to Lindsey Graham’s office for comment. As yet, he has issued no response to Loomer’s remarks. 

The fact that Loomer is so close to Donald Trump has made many people wonder whether she was speaking out with Trump’s permission or advance knowledge. 

Pete Buttigieg

Last night, Buttigieg suggested Donald Trump knew what he was doing by traveling with Loomer this week. He said the former President was doing so with a specific purpose. 

“The question isn’t whether it’s acceptable for a presidential candidate to spend 9/11 with someone who said 9/11 was an inside job. Of course it’s not,” Buttigieg tweeted. 

“The question is why Trump did. And the answer is: to draw our focus away from his failed record and unpopular plans.”

White House denounces Loomer’s comments

Buttigieg is not the only member of the Biden administration to speak out against Loomer. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked to comment yesterday on Loomer’s comments regarding Kamala Harris.

Jean-Pierre called the comments “repugnant … it is un-American to say these types of things, the kind of hateful, divisive rhetoric that we should denounce and should not be part of the fabric of this country.

“No leader should ever associate with someone who tries to spread this kind of ugliness, this kind of racist poison.”

Loomer responded in a tweet, calling Jean-Pierre a “DEI pick” and saying, “Karine Jean Pierre doesn’t like me because she’s a lesbian, Haitian immigrant and she doesn’t like the fact that I have been so vocal about the cat eating Haitians.” 

Jean-Pierre was born in Martinique to Haitian parents. The family relocated to the US when Jean-Pierre was five. She is a US citizen. 

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