Former Republican Rep. Scott Taylor tried multiple times to avoid answering CNN anchor Anderson Cooper’s question about whether it would be wise for Donald Trump to take advice from Laura Loomer, the far-right internet personality and 9/11 conspiracy theorist who has recently been traveling with the former president.
Taylor eventually conceded—albeit begrudgingly—that it is “probably not” advisable for Trump to do so.
The segment on AC360 about Loomer’s ties to Trump—and the praise he has given her—was “juvenile,” Taylor said out of the gate.
When Cooper, who previously clashed with the former congressman on Monday, informed him that she was with Trump on his plane heading to the presidential debate on Tuesday, Taylor didn’t see any significance. “Doesn’t matter,” he said, claiming that Loomer’s presence in Trump’s orbit “isn’t news.”
“Is it juvenile for the former president to hang out with her and to take advice from her?” Cooper asked.
“I don’t know that he’s taking advice from her. I don’t know who she is. So I don’t know,” claimed Taylor, apparently uninformed about the topic at hand. “It doesn’t matter if she’s on the plane.”
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Taylor claimed moments later that “the American people don’t care” about Trump’s association with Loomer, even after she stood by Trump at a 9/11 remembrance ceremony at Ground Zero.
Cooper asked again about the propriety of taking Loomer’s advice, but Taylor again didn’t answer, merely saying Loomer must be happy with the coverage she has received.
“I understand you don’t want to answer the question because you’re trying to deflect. That’s your arguing style, and I get it,” Cooper replied as Taylor protested that it wasn’t. Cooper then asked his question a third time.
“I don’t know. Probably not,” Taylor finally said. “But I don’t know he’s taking advice. Do you?”
Later in the segment, Taylor tried to claim that “both sides”—the Trump and the Harris campaigns—have the same issue.
“No campaign, Democrat or Republican, is somehow innocent of inflammatory rhetoric. The president of the United States got shot in the head. My colleagues got shot at a congressional baseball practice. No campaign, no side is innocent of not saying inflammatory rhetoric. You can‘t say that. You can‘t all be one side…and not criticize the other side. You have to be able to do both,” he argued.
After hearing from CNN political analyst and journalist Natasha Alford about her experience raising a mixed-race child in light of Trump’s racist comments, Taylor reiterated how “both sides” are apparently to blame.
“I‘m raising a son too, and I want him to be respectful, and I want him to love all people and respect them,” he said. “And he will because that‘s how I‘m raising him. But, just like you, I have to speak to him because he asked questions as well, and it‘s on both sides.”
Alford rejected Taylor’s view.
“We’re not talking about being above criticism. I‘ve done both sides. I‘ve been able to criticize candidates on both sides. I‘m just talking about myself,” she said. “But you cannot look at the rhetoric coming out of Donald Trump’s mouth and equate it with what we’ve seen from Kamala Harris.”
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