Far-right influencer Laura Loomer has had an unusual amount of power over staffing and foreign policy decisions in the current Trump administration. Now, she is promoting anti-Muslim bills and pressuring congresspeople to strip Muslim people of their civil rights including the ability to hold office and religious protections.
Andrea Austria / Media Matters
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Laura Loomer pitches banning Muslims from running for office to members of Congress
Loomer also pressed representatives on her show about stripping Muslims of religious protections
Written by Reed McMaster
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- Loomer has directly influenced the Trump administration's staffing and foreign policy decisions — now, she’s trying to do the same with Congress
- Loomer has a long history of anti-Muslim bigotry
- Loomer asked multiple members of Congress if they agreed with her view that Muslims should be barred from elected office
- Loomer pushed members of Congress to remove religious protections for Muslims and stop treating Islam as a religion
- Loomer wanted Rep. Chip Roy's (R-TX) proposed anti-Muslim bill to create a total Muslim travel ban
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Loomer has directly influenced the Trump administration's staffing and foreign policy decisions — now, she’s trying to do the same with Congress
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- Loomer successfully advocated for U.S. foreign policy shifts, including the cancellation of visas for children seeking medical care. She called children from Gaza, some seeking prosthetic replacements for amputated limbs, “Islamic invaders.” Marco Rubio's State Department later announced, “All visitor visas for individuals from Gaza are being stopped while we conduct a full and thorough review of the process.” [The Guardian, 8/16/25]
- Loomer reportedly met with President Donald Trump and pushed him to oust several national security officials. The next day, three members of the National Security Council were fired. [Axios, 4/3/25]
- Sanctions were lifted on genocide-denying Bosnian politician Milorad Dodik after a push by Loomer and other conservative influencers. Loomer posted on social media, “Milorad Dodik @MiloradDodik of the Republika Srpska is enduring ruthless political attacks from a coalition of Muslims and globalists. These attacks are occurring as Dodik stands firm as a dedicated supporter of President Trump and as a defender of Western values.” [New York Times, 10/29/25; Twitter/X, 10/23/25; NPR, 1/8/22]
- After interviewing Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX), Loomer noted her plans to platform representatives that “are pushing back against Sharia law” and the “Islamification of America.” Adding, “I wanna be able to support Republicans and, you know, give them an audience and help support the campaigns of representatives that are actually fighting for America first, fighting to protect our country from an Islamic takeover.” [Rumble, Loomer Unleashed, 10/30/25]
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Loomer has a long history of anti-Muslim bigotry
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- Loomer has described herself as a “proud islamophobe” and called Muslims “savages f**king everything up for everyone.” In just one among many moments of her anti-Muslim bigotry, Loomer suggested in a lengthy Twitter tirade following a 2017 terror attack in New York City that “we should never let another Muslim into the civilized world.” [Right Wing Watch, 11/1/17; The New York Times, 10/31/17; Media Matters, 8/14/24]
- On her show, Loomer advocated for removing American citizenship from all Muslims who immigrated to the United States after 2008. She claimed, “I think that they need to denaturalize all the Muslims that came into our country under Obama and since Obama.” Loomer added, “Muslims. People who come to this country to become citizens to destroy it. Exactly. That's what they do.” [Rumble, Loomer Unleashed, 10/28/25]
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Loomer asked multiple members of Congress if they agreed with her view that Muslims should be barred from elected office
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- Loomer asked Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL) if he also believed that Muslims should not be allowed to hold elected office. She asked, “The only people who have refused to take their oath of office on the Bible and the Constitution is every single Muslim who has ever served in the United States Congress. Andre Carson, Keith Ellison, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, all of them have refused to take their oath of office on the Bible and The United States Constitution. So, do you agree with me that it should be illegal for Muslims to hold political office in our country?” [Rumble, Loomer Unleashed, 10/18/25]
- Fine admitted he wasn't sure how you could “ban a religion” from office but suggested instead that only “natural born” citizens should be able to hold congressional office. ”I don't know how you can ban a religion," he stated, adding, “I think the solution to a lot of this is to consider whether you should have to be a natural born citizen in order to be elected to Congress.” [Rumble, Loomer Unleashed, 10/18/25]
- When Loomer pushed Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) about potentially banning Muslims from elected office, she said, “That's personally what I think needs to happen.” She asked Ogles, “Why is the Republican party not doing enough to signal to these Muslims who are now, all of a sudden, running for positions all across our country?” She added, “What can be done to stop this? I mean, do we need to ban Muslims from running for office in our country? That's personally what I think needs to happen.” [Rumble, Loomer Unleashed, 10/28/25]
- In response, Ogles noted that Republicans would run into problems with constitutional law if they attempted to ban Muslims from elected office. He stated, “I don't know that there's anything that we could do that wouldn't fly in the, kind of the face of constitutional law.” [Rumble, Loomer Unleashed, 10/28/25]
- Loomer asked Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) if he supported Muslims being allowed to serve in the United States Congress, saying, “I personally don't." She questioned, “Do you think that Muslims should be allowed to serve in the United States Congress, whether that be in the House of Representatives, in the Senate? Do you think that Muslims should be allowed to hold elected office in our country? I personally don't.” [Rumble, Loomer Unleashed, 10/21/25]
- Tuberville stated there's no reason to ban Muslims from elected office as long as they “assimilate.” He added, “If they do that, I don't think we have any right to say no. I really don't.” [Rumble, Loomer Unleashed, 10/21/25]
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Loomer pushed members of Congress to remove religious protections for Muslims and stop treating Islam as a religion
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- Loomer told Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) that Republicans in Congress need to recognize that Islam is “not a religion.” She claimed, “You can't coexist with Islam, and it's time for lawmakers like yourself and others to recognize the fact that Islam is not a religion, right?” Loomer continued, “We have to recognize that Islam is not practiced as a religion in the 56 Muslim countries. It is practiced as a legal code and a political system.” [Rumble, Loomer Unleashed, 10/23/25]
- Loomer also asked Fine, “Do you think that it's time that we strip Muslims of their so-called religious identity and religious protection here in America?” [Rumble, Loomer Unleashed, 10/18/25]
- Fine suggested the “No Sharia Act,” his legislation which “prohibits the application of Sharia in the United States where it would violate constitutional rights,” would effectively strip Muslims of their religious identity. He claimed, “I think that's part of the purpose of the No Sharia Act, and that's what it does. It says the political ideology part of Islam is not coming to our country.” [Rumble, Loomer Unleashed, 10/18/25; Office of Rep. Randy Fine, 9/25/25]
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Loomer wanted Rep. Chip Roy's (R-TX) proposed anti-Muslim bill to create a total Muslim travel ban
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- Loomer asked Roy if his “Preserving A Sharia-Free America Act,” which would ban anyone who adheres to Sharia law from entering the country, would serve as a travel ban, accusing all Muslims of being “Sharia adherent.” She said, “Since it would be the duty of every devout practicing Muslim to be Sharia adherent, doesn't that then mean that your legislation is just a full blown Muslim travel ban? Which is, in my opinion, what we really need in this country.” [Rumble, Loomer Unleashed, 10/23/25; Office of Rep. Chip Roy, 10/8/25]
- Roy suggested that his “Preserving A Sharia-Free America Act” could hypothetically ban all Muslims from entering the country if all Muslims are “Sharia adherent” like Loomer claims. He stated, “I don't think we should import people who subscribe to that. And so to the extent that that's true for every single person who's adhering to Islam, then so be it.” [Rumble, Loomer Unleashed, 10/23/25]