The latest far-right whacko to gain Main Character status in the broader political arena is a 31-year-old “pro–white nationalist” named Laura Loomer, who was most recently seen in public getting super handsy with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago, with no Melania in sight. In other words, it’s an extremely normal moment in American politics.

This is why Trump is hanging out with Laura Loomer. Watch them with their hands all over each other at Mar-a-Lago. Note: He’s married. pic.twitter.com/GKdSMjDnvD

Loomer is, unfortunately, already quite well-known to those of us who remember the times she crashed a 2017 Shakespeare in the Park production and handcuffed herself to Twitter’s New York City offices just a year later. However, less-online readers may have only learned of her this week thanks to two high-profile incidents: Loomer’s appearance at the 9/11 Memorial with Trump—in spite of Melania’s persistent absence, and in spite of Loomer’s professed belief in “inside job” conspiracies—and her online spat with Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-QAnon), which further escalated into spats with Sens. Lindsey Graham and Thom Thillis. It’s becoming quite the headache for Trump’s Republican allies and his campaign aides, many of whom think Loomer is too extreme even for them and would like to cut off ties with her as soon as possible, before Trump gets dogged with even more rumors that he, uh, may be having an affair with her? (To be clear, these rumors are unfounded, for now.)

REPORTER: Laura Loomer is traveling with you. She made racist remarks about your opponents. She also espoused 9/11 conspiracies. Do you disavow those remarks?

TRUMP: Well, I have to see what those remarks are. I don't even know what you're talking about. pic.twitter.com/DfLRlC6sle

Who is this person, why do you have to know about her, and could she really become First Lady in Waiting? With great regret, I shall break it all down for you below.

Oh god, what now?

So, Laura Elizabeth Loomer is an Arizona-born Jewish American who, as she once told the Spectator, was drawn to far-right politics as a child, pushed toward Islamophobia by 9/11 and the war on terror, and inspired by the Fox News pundits her dad would watch every night. That media diet, coupled with her enthusiasm for hidden-camera prank shows like Punk’d (seriously), eventually got Loomer interested in broadcast journalism.

In the early 2010s, she enrolled in the........

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