Lara Trump campaigns with far-right activist candidate Laura Loomer in Florida

by Chris Mills Rodrigo - 09/02/20 11:46 AM ET

Lara Trump recently joined Republican congressional candidate Laura Loomer at a campaign event in Florida, throwing the support of the Trump name behind the far-right activist and self-described Islamophobe.

President Trump’s daughter-in-law and campaign adviser was photographed with Loomer, the GOP nominee to challenge Rep. Lois Frankel (D-Fla.) in a reliably blue district, at a campaign event with some pictures showing a lack of face masks and social distancing.

.@LaraLeaTrump visited our hardworking volunteers in Boca Raton, FL.

These volunteers are knocking doors, making calls, and training new volunteers – all to spread the President’s record of success with their fellow Floridians. #4MoreYears #WomenForTrump pic.twitter.com/p9eSNbFQOG

— Courtney Parella (@CourtneyParella) September 2, 2020

Loomer’s primary victory last month has already caused headaches for congressional Republicans, who are grappling with her history of wildly offensive remarks as they face an uphill battle to try to win back the majority in the House.

A self-described “proud Islamophobe,” Loomer has been banned from several social media platforms for violating policies around hate speech.

In 2017, she tweeted “how many more people need to die before everyone agrees that Islam is cancer & we should never let another Muslim into the civilized world?” That same year she was banned from Uber and Lyft after she tweeted that “someone needs to create a non Islamic form of @uber or @lyft.”

In 2018, Loomer was removed from Twitter after she persistently harassed Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), one of the first two Muslim women elected to Congress. She was removed from Facebook and Instagram in May 2019 for similar harassment.

Loomer’s controversial remarks go beyond just Islamophobia: She has baselessly suggested that the 2018 high school shooting in Parkland, Fla., was a “false flag event” and celebrated the death of 2,000 migrants at sea.

Several congressional Republicans have nonetheless endorsed Loomer, including Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.).

She has also received the support of President Trump, who said after her primary win that she has “a great chance against a Pelosi puppet” in November, referring to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).