Far-right activist Laura Loomer has come under sharp condemnation after saying the wild animals surrounding President Donald Trump’s new immigration detention center, dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” will have “at least 65 million meals.”
“Alligator lives matter. The good news is, alligators are guaranteed at least 65 million meals if we get started now,” Loomer wrote Monday on X.
Former Barack Obama aide and Pod Save America co-host Tommy Vietor led the charges against Loomer following the racist commentary, calling her a “lunatic” and questioning if the 65 million figure is referring to the Latino population in the country.
“What this lunatic and close advisor to President Trump is saying is that every Latino currently living in the United States should go to prison and die,” Vietor wrote on X.
“She’s calling for a Latino holocaust,” one person responded. Another included a screenshot of the U.S. Census website, which notes the Hispanic population of the country is 65.2 million and wrote, “This is explicitly a call for genocide.”
“It only took 294 days to get from ‘immigrants are eating animals’ to ‘we will feed immigrants to animals,’” another added, making reference to the false pet-eating claims heard during the presidential campaign.
Another user chimed in, “There aren’t 65 million immigrants in this country. But there are 65 million Latinos. This was never about immigrants. This is about white nationalism.”
In addition to calling out Loomer, a longtime Trump supporter who has recently made headlines for supporting his decision to bomb Iran, some Internet users compared her to the Nazi supreme leader.
“Amazing how Laura Loomer has managed to make her entire personality being a Jewish female Hitler,” one person wrote.
Other commentators poked fun of Loomer’s looks. One person shared a photo of the MAGA diehard and wrote, “I’m not an expert on the dietary requirements of alligators but I think it’s likely that given the choice between a malnourished immigrant or a robust and succulent Laura Loomer, the alligator would choose Loomer, 10 out of 10 times.”
The Independent has reached out to Loomer through her news site, “Loomered” for comment.
Trump’s new immigration detention centre in the Florida Everglades – which has been dubbed the ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ comes as his administration is working to quickly expand the infrastructure necessary for increasing deportations. The new center sits about 50 miles west of Miami in an area teeming with pythons and alligators. It comes as crackdowns on the U.S.-Mexico border only intensify under Trump’s harsh anti-immigration policies.
Trump has also made some controversial statements about the new facility, at one point joking that they would “teach” the immigrants held there “how to run away from an alligator if they escape prison.”
When questioned by Fox News’ Peter Doocy if the detention center’s location was meant to let snakes or alligators eat escapees, Trump simply responded, “I guess that’s the concept” before adding, “This is not a nice business.”
Authorities originally suggested the center could house up to 5,000 detainees upon completion, but Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said it would hold about 3,000, with some starting to arrive this week.
The facility was built in eight days and features more than 200 security cameras, 28,000-plus feet of barbed wire and 400 security personnel.
