Qatar critic Laura Loomer accused of taking undisclosed payments for posts: Washington Post

The Washington Post cites four people who say the U.S. right-wing activist was paid for posts on X, though the records it reviewed do not state the payments’ purpose. The report does not identify the clients involved.U.S. right-wing activist Laura Loomer, who has repeatedly attacked Qatar on X, has been paid by private clients to make political posts without disclosing the payments, The Washington Post reported on Saturday.The Post cited former Trump campaign adviser Alex Bruesewitz and three other people familiar with the arrangements. It said records it reviewed appear to show four payments totalling more than $60,000 to Loomer and her company, King Breaker Media, since May 2025.The Post’s report does not link the payments to her Qatar posts, and it notes that the documents do not state their purpose. Loomer has denied being paid to post on social media.However, the allegations have drawn attention due to the irony of Loomer’s past commentary. In November 2025, Loomer targeted American attendees at the Formula 1 Qatar Grand Prix, asking on X whether Qatar was paying influencers to promote it, and writing that the country “appears to have sponsored” their trip.At the time, targets of her commentary fiercely pushed back on the platform, alleging that Loomer’s posts were themselves part of a financially motivated campaign. Rob Smith, one of the influencers on the trip, responded to the Post’s report on Saturday by accusing Loomer of being paid to target him.“Laura Loomer was paid to create a social media campaign targeting me for taking a trip to our American ally, Qatar,” he said on X, calling back to the F1 controversy last year. “It was very important to who paid her (and I know who) to paint our Qatari allies as Radical Islamist enemies of America.”Hamad Al-Muftah, Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of Qatar in Washington, said in a post on X on Sunday: “It’s sad that people get paid to smear others and spread disinformation. It’s worse that this platform is being used by foreign-funded campaigns to push agendas that do nothing for Americans.”Qatari officials have repeatedly rejected disinformation about the country’s activities in the U.S. In an interview on Piers Morgan Uncensored aired on 29 September, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani rejected as “false” and “absurd” allegations that Qatar funds American universities, journalists and others to turn opinion against Israel.He added that Doha was funding universities that operate in Qatar and have campuses there, rather than students or their content.