Donald Trump is palling around with a far-right firebrand, Laura Loomer, known for spreading conspiracy theories — and it's left an ex-aide of his incredulous.
The co-hosts of "The View" were flabbergasted that he was joined by the controversial figure at ceremonies marking the 9/11 attacks in New York — and on Friday wondered how a presidential candidate could incorporate someone like that into his campaign.
Sara Haines said that one of the major concerns about a second Trump term is the extremism outlined in "Project 2025," as well as the people willing to work for him such as Loomer, Steve Bannon and Corey Lewandowski.
Former Trump White House communications director Alyssa Farah Griffin said that she thinks this is another indication that the ex-president is in cognitive decline.
"I have a bit of a theory which — I was very critical of Biden and what I saw," she recalled. "I have said this, and I am ringing this bell: there is a decline with Donald Trump. He's never been the most eloquent person. That's an overstatement, but the judgment he's exercising right now when — it's not for him just about winning the White House, it's also about staying out of jail."
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She noted that Trump only has a chance to make his criminal cases disappear if he is elected. Similarly, Trump has a sentencing hearing scheduled for the end of November his New York conviction — and it might include jail time.
"He doesn't have the judgment eight weeks out from an election to not have this fringe person who should be nowhere near the White House or mainstream politics advising him," continued Griffin. "Where he's espousing with 67 million people watching that they're eating the pets. Something is off and I just feel like it's not getting nearly enough attention."
Joy Behar asked if she thinks Trump has "the big D," meaning dementia.
"I think he's in decline," Griffin said. "... This race is neck and neck, and Donald Trump is targeting low-propensity white male voters going on certain podcasts."
She said that if Trump can drive up the white male vote it may not matter if he loses suburban women.
Former Republican strategist Ana Navarro noted that Trump had been recently seen in public more with Loomer than he has with his wife Melania Trump or even his daughter Ivanka.
"Listen, this woman, Laura Looney, she's traveling on the campaign plane. I've been on campaign planes. They don't just pluck any stranger off the street. They pick people, the people who travel with the principal are people who have access," said Navarro.
"But make no mistake, this woman is a racist and she has access to Donald Trump, and the reason he's got racists around him is because Donald Trump is a racist."
