EXCLUSIVE The controversial MAGA star that Trump floated for Karoline Leavitt's job... and why she didn't get the gig
However, according to the forthcoming book 2024: How Trump Retook the White House and the Democrats Lost America, penned by the trio of journalists Josh Dawsey, Tyler Pager and Isaac Arnsdorf, candidate Trump once floated a much more unconventional choice.
That of right-wing MAGA personality Laura Loomer.
'Many of Trump's advisers viewed Loomer as too-conspiracy-minded and pugilistic, but he liked her,' they wrote. '"Is she too fringe to be press secretary?" he asked aides once.'
Trump's advisers clearly talked him out of it.
But Loomer still had an outsized role in shaping some of Trump's campaign rhetoric - and she's influenced decisions he's made in the White House since.
Dawsey, a reporter now with The Wall Street Journal, Pager of The New York Times and Arnsdorf of The Washington Post detailed how Loomer was responsible for one of Trump's most viral moments of the entire campaign cycle.
On September 10, the former president and Republican nominee had invited Loomer to join him on board 'Trump Force One' for the flight to Philadelphia for his only debate against Vice President Kamala Harris, after she replaced President Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee.
President Donald Trump has applauded the job that 27-year-old press secretary Karoline Leavitt has done since taking over the White House podium earlier this year
Loomer was already in hot water with some Trump allies - notably Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene - for using racist stereotypes against Harris, claiming the White House would 'smell like curry' if the Democrat won and 'speeches will be facilitated via a call center.' Harris' mother had immigrated to the U.S. from India.
During the flight, the authors wrote, Loomer 'showed him allegations circulating online about a community of thousands of Haitian immigrants resettled in the Ohio town of Springfield, accusing them of stealing geese and cats for food.'
'Loomer showed him a call to the county sheriff complaining of Haitians carrying geese away from a public park and a woman arrested for eating a cat,' the authors wrote. 'She showed him a video of her associate confronting Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown outside the Capitol.'
The associate had asked the Democrat: 'Would you be happy if an illegal alien ate your dog, Sen. Brown?'
Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance - at that point Trump's running mate - had also promoted some of the allegations online 'to the chagrin of some local Republicans,' the authors pointed out.
'On the plane to Philly, Trump responded by joining in the online frenzy,' they said. 'He posted several memes on Truth Social alluding to the mania: a computer- generated image of him on his plane surrounded by grateful-looking cats and ducks; and another of cats equipped with assault rifles and MAGA caps.'
Harris was supposed to be prepared if the topic came up.
'When Harris aides saw Loomer get off Trump's plane in Philly, they called the vice president to brief her on the Springfield rumors so she would be prepared if Trump brought them up,' the authors wrote.
When it did, the moment was so wild the Democrat couldn't keep her composure.
'In Springfield, they're eating the dogs. The people that came in. They're eating the cats. They're eating - they're eating the pets of the people that live there,' Trump said.
On the split screen, Harris was seen laughing, shaking her heads and mouthing words.
'Talk about extreme,' she finally spit out, once ABC News' David Muir asked for her reaction.
While Trump would go on to win the general election, the debate was largely seen as a win for Harris.
'Loomer had no regrets about the dogs-and-cats outburst,' the authors wrote. 'She thought it was a defining moment of the campaign, like when Trump told Clinton at the second debate in 2016, if he were in charge, "You'd be in jail."'
'Trump's pet-eating line was the debate's most memorable, launching a thousand memes and becoming a TikTok trend,' they continued. 'It put the focus on immigration, the strongest possible terrain for Trump, and did so in a way that appealed especially to young voters.'
Both the immigration issue - and an improvement among youth voters - allowed Trump to beat Harris in November.
During the transition, President Donald Trump went with a more natural fit for the press secretary role, Karoline Leavitt, 27, who held the job during his 2024 campaign. He has since referred to Leavitt as a 'star' at the podium
Once Trump started on the transition, he picked a more natural fit for press secretary, 27-year-old Leavitt, who held the position during the campaign. She made history as the youngest person ever picked for the job, with the president calling her a 'star.'
But Loomer stayed in the president's orbit - and has visited Trump and Vance at the White House complex.
She confirmed an early April meeting in the Oval Office with Trump to the Daily Mail.
During the meeting, she said she showed the president her 'research findings' - as she took aim at several members of the National Security Council. Several NSC staffers were fired later that day.
Loomer later took credit when Trump removed his National Security Advisor Mike Waltz - quickly nominating him instead for the role of U.N. ambassador.
She also claimed the head of Waltz's deputy, Alex Wong, after negatively highlighting his wife's Chinese heritage and pushing discredited claims about Wong's own family and business dealings with China.
'SCALP,' she wrote, sharing news of Wong's firing.
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