American political activist Laura Loomer landed in India for the first time this week. While the South Asian country’s cultural values have long determined that its guests be honoured as if they are God-incarnate, the MAGA influencer’s arrival paved the way for yet another controversy.
The far-right activist and Donald Trump loyalist, who is believed to have a “purge list,” has often engaged in wars of words with one too many notable figures. Possibly one of her most prominent feuds is shared with American journalist Tucker Carlson. But on Saturday, she found a journalist in India to clash with: Rajdeep Sardesai.
Laura Loomer feuds with Indian journalist
Taking to her profile on X after midnight following her key appearance at the India Today Conclave 2026, she took direct aim at the Indian veteran journalist and India Today, the news channel that organised the two-day summit.
“It’s time for journalists in India to stop simping for Pakistani terrorists and to start fighting for the survival of the majority Hindu population of India,” she wrote in a tweet on X. “Stop pretending like you can coexist with people who want to replace you and kill you.”
“There’s a reason why nobody wants Pakistan to have nukes…I simply said the quiet part out loud.”
Publicly tagging Sardesai on X, she added, “Nobody wants terrorists to have nukes.” She then also tagged India Today and wrote, “Not all Muslims are terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslim.”
What happened to Laura Loomer at the India Today Conclave 2026?
Loomer’s sharp commentary came after the Indian journalist called her out for her “brazenly racist and Islamophobic” ideology at the Indian Today Conclave 2026. During the live broadcast, Sardesai, who was personally present at the summit in New Delhi, openly challenged Laura over her old posts demonstrating anti-Indian and Islamophobic sentiments.
Ahead of arrival in India, the big question loomed whether the Indian media would question her anti-India, anti-Muslim and anti-H-1B visa rhetoric, especially since the country’s representatives had invited her to the event despite her controversial past.
Even beyond the media welcoming her with critical questions instead of open arms, the Trump ally faced severe flak online owing to her past streak of leaving anti-Indian comments on X. Many of those posts, however, were swiped clean from her official social media handle on the Elon Musk-led platform before she landed in India, which further stretched out the controversy.
While some believed that deleting those problematic tweets may have sought to erase her association with anti-India hate comments, Loomer continued reiterating most of her claims about Islam at the India Today event. Statements like “I believe that Islam is a cancer on the world,” and “I don’t believe that Islamophobia is real. I believe Islamophobia is a hoax” solidified her stance as a self-proclaimed “proud Islamophobe,” even as she apologised for leaving certain comments rife with hate for India on X over the past few years.
While at the India Today Conclave on Saturday, she additionally re-positioned her stance as an “advocate for Hindus” speaking out “Islam persecuting Hindus.”
Sardesai leapt straight into action towards the end of Loomer’s interview, confronting her on her past comments. Citing years-old comments in which she said the White House would “smell like curry” if former Vice President Kamala Harris became the US president. Yet another much-remembered comment the Indian V anchor mentioned was how Loomer had said the US was built by “white Europeans, not third-world invaders from India.”
He then went on to accuse her of being “brazenly racist and Islamophobic,” adding that her comments reflected “anti‑Indianism, worse still Islamophobia and even worse racism,” and they had “no place in today’s world.”
Countering Sardesai’s loud criticism, Loomer argued at the time that “Islamophobia” wasn’t even real, calling it a “hoax.”
Loomer also clarified her old remarks about former US presidential candidate Kamala Harris, saying that she meant to criticise her for ignoring her Indian heritage while campaigning despite emphasising it earlier in her career. Accusing Harris of political pandering, Laura said that the Democratic nominee completely distanced herself from her Indian identity during the 2024 election trail. “If anything, my comments were actually pro‑Indian,” she argued.
Harris, on the other hand, has long rubbished claims that she switches identities for political gain. The Democratic candidate has identified as both Black and Indian American, owing to her ties to a Jamaican-born father and Indian-born mother.