Re: Laura Elizabeth Loomer (No Rematch - Primary v. GOP Rep. Dan Webster)
Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2022 3:55 pm
Daily Beast: Laura Loomer Attacks Opponent for His Age—in Famously Elderly District:
But:“We don’t need members of Congress who are walking around wearing Life Alert necklaces, too sick to vote,” Loomer said about the congressman who currently represents The Villages.
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Now in her second bid for Congress, this time in a primary fight against Rep. Dan Webster (R-FL), Loomer has found a new oddball line of attack. Her opponent, she claims, is so feeble he wears a Life Alert necklace with a button to alert emergency responders if he has a fall.
“We don’t need members of Congress who are walking around wearing Life Alert necklaces, too sick to vote,” Loomer told The Daily Beast, citing a picture she claims shows Webster wearing the necklace.
Despite Loomer’s insistence, though, there’s substantial evidence that Webster isn’t wearing a Life Lock necklace. Instead, he appears to be wearing a personal air ionizer, a device intended to purify the air around him. Webster is such an enthusiast of the device that he even praised it in a 2021 House hearing.
Still, in an age where Republicans scour Joe Biden’s speeches for proof that he’s senile, Loomer’s attacks on Webster, 73, might get some traction. But Loomer, 29, is running in Florida’s 11th District, the home to the massive retirement community known as The Villages—perhaps the worst place to push an attack on an opponent’s age and health problems.
“If there is any district in America that is sympathetic to that, it is that district,” said Dr. James C. Clark, an expert on Florida politics and a senior lecturer at the University of Central Florida. “Florida 11 has more residents 65 or over than any district in the country. One out of three people in the district is over 65.”
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Even Loomer’s signature public outbursts—a tactic her supporters have dubbed “Loomering”—haven’t succeeded. In April, Loomer and Webster, a former speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, both attended a local Republican club meeting. After Webster left after giving a brief speech, Loomer stood up and tried to win over the crowd by complaining that Webster hadn’t taken questions.
Instead of winning over new voters, though, Loomer seemed to antagonize them. The white-haired crowd grew restless as Loomer talked, and one woman shouted that her speech was upsetting her. An elderly man gently motioned for Loomer to sit down.
“This is not the place!” a woman who identified herself as a state Republican committeewoman thundered at Loomer.
Loomer gave up and sat down, grumbling to herself.
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But Loomer has failed to secure perhaps the one thing that could help her compete with Webster: a Donald Trump endorsement. Loomer has made Webster’s decision to skip the post-Capitol riot impeachment vote against Trump into a centerpiece of her campaign, implying that Webster abandoned Trump in his moment of need. (Webster has said he had a family medical emergency). Even as she tries to paint herself as the more devoted Trump supporter, though, the ex-president has remained silent.
Loomer insisted that Trump still has time to endorse her before Florida’s Aug. 23 primary.
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In Trump’s absence, Loomer has endorsements from Roger Stone and former Trump National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. But her allies aren’t always consistent.
On Sunday, Loomer is set to campaign with Stew Peters, a former bounty hunter turned far-right internet talk show host known for promoting the idea that snake venom has been injected into the water supply to give humans satanic DNA.
This week, Peters unveiled a “documentary” meant to revive the Satanic Panic, which includes the claim that a whopping 0.5 percent of American homes feature gruesome ceremonies meant to worship the devil. He also recently claimed that Loomer, who is Jewish, had become a Christian.
“Laura Loomer is covered in the blood of Jesus Christ,” the radio host declared Wednesday on messaging app Telegram.
Loomer told The Daily Beast that she’s a “proud Jewish woman,” saying she’s not sure why Peters said she had converted. Still, she described herself as a supporter of “Christian nationalism,” the far-right theocratic movement embraced by Rep. Marjorie TaylorGreene (R-GA).
“I’m in support of the Christian nationalist movement,” Loomer said.
Asked about the long odds that her campaign seems to face, Loomer insisted she could win.
“I’m gonna win,” Loomer said. “I know there’s a lot of haters out there.”