OPINION: Trump’s embrace of a Sept. 11 conspiracy theorist shows his moral bankruptcy

Last week, on the 23rd anniversary of a day that all of us who were old enough to understand what happened recall with horror, former President Donald Trump flew to New York City for a commemoration of those who died in what was one of the most unimaginable attacks ever committed on this country’s soil. He was accompanied while in transit by far-right conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer, who has repeatedly called the 9/11 atrocities an inside job perpetrated by the United States government.

This lie, once confined to the lunatic fringe of the far left, has since migrated to the near-mainstream right and into the ears of a man masquerading as a conservative who wishes to be president once more. This alone, for all Americans who genuinely love our country, should forever disqualify Trump from being considered a viable option for the highest office in the land. Or any other public position for that matter.

According to Loomer, 2,996 Americans died not at the hands of al-Qaeda, but due to what would have to have been a vast conspiracy involving countless government and civilian participants. Yet in 23 years, not one of these presumed conspirators has come forward to admit what Loomer believes to be the truth. And if Trump is reelected, Loomer will be a welcome guest in the White House.

The groundless conspiracy theory that 9/11 was an “inside job” has been fully debunked by investigators on all levels of government from city to state to federal, national security experts in both the private and public spheres, civil engineers, well-qualified private and academic researchers, experts on terrorist groups originating in the Middle East, journalists who deeply explored the history of how the events of that day came about, the Republican-dominated 9/11 Commission and innumerable others. In calling them liars, Loomer demonstrates her seething hatred for the United States. She has fully aligned herself with the most vile, anti-American voices on the extreme left who once trafficked in this lie. Voices the Democratic Party had the good sense to expunge from its ranks, but who a growing number of Republicans now believe. And Donald Trump has embraced her as an ally.

In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, more than 181,000 American men and women volunteered for this nation’s armed forces. Another 73,000 enlisted in the reserves. A total of 1.9 million U.S. military personnel were sent to the wars that ensued. More than 7,000 of them died. Another 43,000 were wounded. Laura Loomer disgraces them all. And Donald Trump, who has offered no substantive criticism of her claims, has welcomed her into his home and his inner circle.

According to Loomer, in recent months routinely and frequently seen in Trump’s company, the sacrifices made by all who stepped up to defend our country after what was done to it did so for less than nothing. According to this woman’s morally reprehensible statements, all who willingly gave of themselves on behalf of the United States, thousands of them with their very lives, were mere puppets. Abominable is too kind of a word for this rhetoric. It’s a word far too meek to describe any candidate for office who not only refuses to condemn Loomer, but who calls her his personal friend.

Last year, former White House Chief of Staff Gen. John Kelly, a highly decorated veteran of the post-9/11 wars, in which he lost his own son, a man who ran the Department of Homeland Security with the sincere wish of forever preventing such an attack from again occurring on U.S. soil, and who served under Trump, confirmed rumors that had long been reported by the media. Trump, he acknowledged in a publicly released statement, said of those who served in the armed forces that there “is nothing in it for them.” Trump called service members, including those wounded or killed, “suckers” and “losers.” Trump refused to be photographed with military amputees because “it doesn’t look good for me.”

Donald Trump, who is open about his closeness with base hate-mongers like Loomer, knows nothing of loyalty and sacrifice for his country. Yet he has convinced millions of Americans to believe otherwise. If elected again, he will likely lead our nation to its ultimate end, destroyed from within.

As Gen. Kelly so poignantly put it, if Trump returns to the White House, “God help us.”

David A. James is a Fairbanks-based freelance writer, and editor of the Alaska literary collection “Writing on the Edge.”

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