Trump refuses to criticize Laura Loomer amid concerns from Republican allies about her influence

RANCHO PALOS VERDES, Calif. (AP) — Donald Trump refused on Friday to condemn recent racist and conspiratorial comments from right-wing provocateur Laura Loomer, who traveled with him earlier this week to Tuesday night's presidential debate and several 9/11 memorial events.

“Laura’s been a supporter of mine,” Trump told reporters at a press conference near Los Angeles, where he was pressed on concerns from Republican allies about his ongoing association with Loomer, who once declared herself a “proud Islamophobe” and has a long history of promoting ugly and extreme conspiracies.

Trump said Loomer has “strong opinions,” but insisted at the news conference he was unaware of her recent comments, including a post on X in which she played on racist stereotypes by writing that “the White House will smell like curry & White House speeches will be facilitated via a call center” if his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, wins in November. Harris is the daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants.

“I don’t control Laura. Laura has to say what she wants,” Trump said. “I can’t tell Laura what to do.”

Yet later, via his Truth Social account, Trump tried to distance himself more clearly from Loomer, saying, “I disagree with the statements she made” and describing her as “a private citizen and longtime supporter” who “doesn't work for the Campaign.” Even in that post, though, Trump defended Loomer, writing that “like the many millions of people who support me, she is tired of watching the Radical Left Marxists and Fascists violently attack and smear me.”

After the backlash, Trump seemed frustrated in a later post on his social media network in which he lashed out at the news media, and he had more bluster than usual that night onstage at a rally in Las Vegas, frequently shouting.

Loomer’s appearances on the campaign trail with Trump have alarmed some top supporters, who have taken the rare move of publicly airing their concerns that he is hurting his chances against Harris, who is driving up Democratic enthusiasm that intensified with her debate performance Tuesday. Harris was campaigning Friday across Pennsylvania.

Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Georgia congresswoman known herself for spreading conspiracies, called the post about curry “appalling and extremely racist” and said it did not represent Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement.

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., called Loomer “a crazy conspiracy theorist who regularly utters disgusting garbage intended to divide Republicans," and said a Democratic Party “plant couldn’t do a better job than she is doing to hurt President Trump’s chances of winning re-election.”

Trump has a history of association with extremists, including dining in 2022 at his Mar-a-Lago club with Nick Fuentes, a far-right activist who had used his online platform to spew antisemitic and white nationalist rhetoric. Trump had said at the time that he “knew nothing about” Fuentes before his dinner with the rapper formerly known as Kanye West.

Harris has not commented publicly on Loomer's ties to Trump. But as has often been the case during his three White House runs, Trump has pulled the presidential campaign this week into a discussion of far-right conspiracies and unsubstantiated rumors with consequences.

He brought up a discredited claim about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, hunting and eating pets at Tuesday's presidential debate watched by more than 67 million people, as Harris repeatedly put him on the defensive about the economy and abortion. The claims — which he has also amplified in social media posts — have driven millions of online conversations, and resulted in serious repercussions for the town.

Bomb threats directed at the homes of Springfield’s mayor and other city officials, as well as Springfield City Hall and schools, prompted the evacuation of schools and government buildings there for a second day on Friday.

Yet Trump's allies, notably his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, have repeatedly raised the claims about pets — even as Vance acknowledged they may be false.

Trump, who has promised if elected again to carry out the largest deportation operation in U.S. history, on Friday dismissed concerns from city officials and said his operation would target Springfield.

“The real threat is what’s happening at our border,” he said.

President Joe Biden on Friday said the Haitian community was “under attack” and the false claims had to stop.

Speaking at a news conference at his Los Angeles-area golf club, Trump unleashed a litany of attacks against Harris and California, as he stood on a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

“She destroyed San Francisco and she destroyed the state,” Trump said of Harris, who represented California in the Senate and also served as the state’s attorney general and the district attorney of San Francisco before becoming vice president. He accused her of having been soft on crime in her previous positions — something aides had suggested he would focus on during the debate.

Trump, who said he wanted to be known as “the border president,” also continued to rail against the dangers of illegal immigration, claiming that the country has had “thousands of people being killed by illegal migrants.”

In fact, there has been no spike in violent crime nationally or in the major cities where many migrants have settled, and national statistics show violent crime is on the way down.

Harris, meanwhile, was in Pennsylvania Friday, where she used stops in two counties Trump won in 2016 and 2020 to frame herself as the candidate for middle-class workers and small-business owners.

In Wilkes-Barre, Harris touted her call for a $50,000 tax deduction to start a small business and said she would work with the private sector to build 3 million new homes to increase housing stock and decrease costs. She said her overall tax plan, , including raising the child tax credit to $6,000 during the first year of a child’s life, would reach 100 million Americans. She pledged to ease requirements for a college degree for certain federal government jobs.

And she compared her upbringing to the billionaire Trump being the son of a wealthy New York developer. “I come from the middle class. I understand where I come from and I’m never going to forget that,” she said.

In Johnstown, Harris met with owners and supporters at Classic Elements, a bookstore and cafe, to discuss her plans. “Small businesses are so much part of the fabric of a community,” she told the shop owners.

It was her second day of back-to-back events after holding two rallies Thursday in North Carolina. Her campaign is aiming to hit every market in every battleground state over four days, with stops by Harris, her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, and other surrogates in Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona and Georgia.

Her campaign said she raised $47 million from 600,000 donors in the 24 hours after her debate with Trump.

After appearing at his golf club in upscale Rancho Palos Verdes, Trump went to a fundraiser in the Bay Area. He then took the stage in Las Vegas on Friday night, where he repeated complaints he made earlier about the debate and attacked Harris. He focused especially on migration into the U.S. and said he wanted to be known as “Mr. Border President.”

This version corrects that Trump dined with white supremacist Nick Fuentes in 2022, not last year.

Madhani reported from Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Colvin from New York and Barrow from Atlanta. Associated Press writers Michael R. Blood in Los Angeles, Chris Megerian in Washington, Melissa Goldin in New York and Tom Verdin in Sacramento contributed to this report.

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives to speak during a campaign event at the World Market Center, Friday, Sept.13, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event at the World Market Center, Friday, Sept.13, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event at the World Market Center, Friday, Sept.13, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign event, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, Wilkes-Barre, Pa. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign event, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, Wilkes-Barre, Pa. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign event, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, Wilkes-Barre, Pa. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris waves to the media as she boards Air Force Two at John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria Airport, in Johnstown, Pa. Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris takes a selfie with Sen. John Letterman, D-Pa., and his wife Gisele Barreto Fetterman, after Harris arrived at John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria Airport, in Johnstown, Pa., for a campaign event, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Supporters wave as Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris arrives at John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria Airport, in Johnstown, Pa., for a campaign event, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris takes a selfie with Sen. John Letterman, D-Pa., and his wife Gisele Barreto Fetterman, after Harris arrived at John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria Airport, in Johnstown, Pa., for a campaign event, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives to speak during a news conference held at Trump National Golf Club Los Angeles in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives to speak during a news conference held at Trump National Golf Club Los Angeles in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference held at Trump National Golf Club Los Angeles in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference held at Trump National Golf Club Los Angeles in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference held at Trump National Golf Club Los Angeles in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference held at Trump National Golf Club Los Angeles in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference held at Trump National Golf Club Los Angeles in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign event, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024, in Greensboro, N.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference held at Trump National Golf Club Los Angeles in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

ROME (AP) — New format. Same old winners.

The revamped Champions League made its debut Tuesday with some familiar clubs claiming victories on opening night.

After joining from Paris Saint-Germain, Kylian Mbappé scored for 15-time champion Real Madrid, which needed late goals from Antonio Rudiger and Endrick to beat Stuttgart 3-1.

Six-time champion Liverpool came back from a goal down for a 3-1 win at seven-time champion AC Milan in a rematch of the 2005 and 2007 finals.

Harry Kane scored four in Bayern Munich’s 9-2 rout of Dinamo Zagreb as the German club opened its bid for a seventh title — which could be achieved in its home stadium in May.

Two-time champion Juventus dispatched PSV Eindhoven 3-1.

During the new league phase, all 36 teams are ranked from top to bottom in a single standings that finishes in January.

Also, Aston Villa returned to the competition for the first time in 41 years and won 3-0 at Young Boys; and Sporting Lisbon beat 10-man Lille 2-0.

The first round of league matches continues with six more matches on both Wednesday and Thursday.

After a scoreless first half, Mbappé put Madrid ahead seconds after the break when he redirected a cross from Rodrygo.

After Deniz Undav equalized for Stuttgart midway through the second half with a header, Rudiger restored Madrid’s advantage with a header and Endrick sealed it with a solo counterattack in stoppage time.

“This was a typical Madrid match in the Champions League," Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois said. "We always have difficult games. We sometimes complicate things ourselves, but credit to to Stuttgart. They pressed high, they were really offensive and they created chances.”

At 18 years and 58 days, Endrick became Madrid's youngest scorer in the Champions League. Raul Gonzalez was 18 years and 113 days old when he scored a hat trick in a 6-1 win against Ferencvarosi in 1995 for the previous record.

Christian Pulisic scored early for Milan before Liverpool struck back with headers from both of its center backs: Ibrahima Konate and Virgil van Dijk. Dominik Szoboszlai added another for Liverpool.

“I’m very proud to be standing here after 50 appearances, a goal and a win at the San Siro after a difficult start. The way we played after that start was outstanding,” Liverpool captain Van Dijk said.

Kane converted three penalties and broke Wayne Rooney’s record for the most Champions League goals by an English player by boosting his tally to 33 — three ahead of Rooney.

Bayern's best goal might have been its second from Raphael Guerreiro, who crushed in a powerful drive after a chest pass from Jamal Musiala.

Bayern coach Vincent Kompany was not the first choice when he was hired in May but so far his team has won all five of its matches. His team now tops the Champions League standings on goal difference.

Kenan Yildiz’s goal for Juventus after 21 minutes was the first of the revamped competition. And what a goal it was.

The Turkey winger dribbled into the left side of the box and curled in a long shot off the far, top corner of the goal frame.

At 19 years and 136 days, Yildiz broke the Juventus record for youngest scorer in the competition that Alessandro Del Piero established when he scored at 20 years and 308 days against Borussia Dortmund in September 1995.

With a goal reminiscent of the way Del Piero used to score, it seemed fitting that Yildiz was wearing the same No. 10 that Del Piero wore for Juventus.

“He was my idol as a child,” Yildiz said. “An incredible evening, goosebumps.”

Under experienced coach Unai Emery, Villa has won three of its four Premier League matches and was in control virtually throughout at Young Boys in its return to the competition after 41 years.

Youri Tielemans put Villa ahead with a bouncing shot midway through the first half and Jacob Ramsey doubled the lead 11 minutes later by taking advantage of a loose ball. Amadou Onana sealed it four minutes from time.

Emery has won the Europa League four times with two clubs — three with Sevilla and once with Villarreal. He also coached Villarreal to the Champions League semifinals in 2022 and led Villa to the Conference League semifinals last season.

Villa was mourning the death a day earlier of 1982 European Cup winner Gary Shaw.

Viktor Gyokeres, who had been an Arsenal transfer target, opened the scoring for Sporting with a neat turn and shot into the bottom left corner. It was Gyokeres' ninth goal in six matches this season.

Lille midfielder Angel Gomes was sent off before the break and Zeno Debast added a long-range strike midway through the second half.

Bayern fans didn’t appear enthusiastic about the new format, holding aloft a gigantic banner that ran the length of one end of the stands reading “Too much of a good thing — back to the roots — undo new CL-format.”

The protest banner was displayed during the playing of the Champions League anthem.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Bayern's Harry Kane scores his sides 7th goal and his 4th of the game from the penalty spot during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Bayern Munich and GNK Dinamo at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Liverpool's Darwin Nunez, right, and AC Milan's goalkeeper Lorenzo Torriani fight for the ball during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between AC Milan and Liverpool at the San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

AC Milan's Christian Pulisic celebrates scoring his side's opening goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between AC Milan and Liverpool at the San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (Spada/LaPresse via AP)

Stuttgart players celebrate their side's first goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Real Madrid and VfB Stuttgart at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium, in Madrid, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Juventus' Kenan Yildiz celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Juventus and PSV Eindhoven at the Juventus stadium in Turin, Italy, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (Fabio Ferrari/LaPresse via AP)

Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe walks along the pitch after Stuttgart score its side's first goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Real Madrid and VfB Stuttgart at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium, in Madrid, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk, left, celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between AC Milan and Liverpool at the San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

Bayern's Harry Kane scores his sides 6th goal and his third of the game for a hat-trick, from the penalty spot during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Bayern Munich and GNK Dinamo at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior runs after the ball during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Real Madrid and VfB Stuttgart at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium, in Madrid, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Real Madrid's Antonio Rudiger celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Real Madrid and VfB Stuttgart at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium, in Madrid, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Real Madrid and VfB Stuttgart at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium, in Madrid, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

New Champions League format makes its debut with same old winners: Madrid, Liverpool, Bayern, Juve

New Champions League format makes its debut with same old winners: Madrid, Liverpool, Bayern, Juve