Far-right political activist Laura Loomer on Wednesday threatened to sue CNN host Anderson Cooper over a doctored image of her and former President Donald Trump that previously aired on Cooper’s show.
CNN’s Pamela Brown delivered the outlet’s on-air apology for featuring the altered image in several segments, acknowledging that on “Friday evening and on Saturday, CNN aired a number of segments that briefly showed an image of [Trump and Loomer] taken from social media.”
The apology continued, “On review, this image had been digitally altered by a third party and should not have been included. We regret the error.”
Loomer shared a video clip of the outlet’s apology on her X, formerly Twitter, account Wednesday evening, writing, “CNN was just forced to issue an on air retraction after @andersoncooper and other hosts ran fake & photoshopped pictures of me and [Trump] on air last week in an effort to demonize me for the crime of flying on his plane to the Presidential debate.”
Loomer flew with Trump to the presidential debate, where he faced off against Vice President Kamala Harris in Philadelphia on September 10. Loomer also joined Trump at the September 11 memorial in New York City after prompting conspiracy theories that the 2001 terrorist attacks were an “inside job.”
Julia Beverly/Getty Images
In an X post to Cooper, Loomer wrote, “Hey @andersoncooper Why are you sending a female colleague of yours to apologize for your defamation? If you do not issue a retraction in writing on X for showing fake and photoshopped pics of me and [Trump] in an effort to spew a sick, misogynistic, and defamatory attack against me, I will sue you, the same way I’m going to sue @billmaher“
Newsweek filled out an online contact form on Loomer’s website and reached out to CNN’s communications team for comment on Thursday afternoon.
The doctored photo arrived two weeks after comedian Bill Maher quipped that Loomer is in an “arranged” relationship with the former president. Loomer responded to Maher’s comment: “I should sue [Maher] for Defamation,” referring to his claims as “a complete and blatant lie.” There is no evidence to suggest an intimate relationship between Loomer and Trump.
In her Wednesday evening post, she called Cooper a “coward” for using “fake pics to defame me and @realDonaldTrump and then not apologize yourself,” again demanding Cooper to “issue a retraction in writing and on air or else you’re getting sued.”
Earlier this month, Loomer received widespread condemnation, including from the former president’s running mate JD Vance and GOP Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, another Trump loyalist, for a racist remark about Harris, saying that the White House “will smell like curry & White House speeches will be facilitated via a call center” if Harris, who is of Indian heritage, wins the presidential election.
