A few years ago, the anti-Muslim bigot and conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer was so politically toxic that after she took a photo with Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Scott’s spokesperson claimed “the Senator had never met this person, that I’m aware of.”

On Tuesday, things were different. In an interview on Loomer’s podcast, Scott — who is locked in a relatively close reelection race with former Democratic Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell and is trying to become the next Senate Republican leader — thanked the far-right activist and Donald Trump sycophant for “all your help in helping me win my election” for a second term as Florida’s governor in 2014. And Loomer showed off what she said were letters from Scott, including a letter he sent her as governor.

“To this day, from when I was a college student all the way to now, 12 years later, every time you see me, you know my name,” Loomer gushed, showing off what she said was a 2014 letter from Scott, apparently with her college address on it, and then saying she’d “saved every single note that you ever sent to me — because I really cherish these letters, Sen. Scott.”

“I’m very appreciative. I’ve been blessed,” Scott replied. “I’ve gotten to meet wonderful people and work with wonderful people. Congratulations on all your success.”

Loomer on Wednesday called Scott “the best candidate to be our next [Senate GOP] leader.” Spokespeople for the senator did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.

The interview was a major get for Loomer, a Trump devotee who has in the past called herself a “proud Islamophobe” and “pro-white nationalism.” Loomer has repeatedly been a member of Trump’s campaign entourage this election season, including ahead of the GOP presidential nominee’s debate with Vice President Kamala Harris and at memorial events on Sept. 11.

Scott, the Florida conservative and Trump loyalist, is a long-shot candidate in the race to replace Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell as GOP leader in the Senate should he win reelection.

He’s vying against Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), two longtime McConnell allies who are more aligned with the establishment wing of the party. Republican senators will choose their next leader in a closed-door election next month that will be held via a secret ballot.

“I’ve never understood why this wouldn’t be an open vote [for GOP leader],” Scott told Loomer on Tuesday, adding later that “this whole Washington establishment just despises the Trump voter.”

Some GOP senators have urged Trump to stay out of the race, warning it could backfire when the votes are kept secret, but conservatives are pushing for the former president to play a role in picking McConnell’s successor. And that could include leaning on people like Loomer, who has ties with Trump and who traveled with him on his plane last month.

Loomer’s ride-alongs came a year after she posted a video that called the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks an “inside job.” Earlier this year, Loomer referred to Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), who was born in Somalia, as a “black dog” and “American in name only.” “I really do believe in IQ science” Loomer said, adding that “some of the people that have the lowest IQs are Somalis” and saying of the congresswoman, “is it really acceptable to have somebody who’s so inbred that they have an IQ that is legally classified as mental retardation?”

Loomer has also said Democrats should be executed, and that the White House “will smell like curry & White House speeches will be facilitated via a call center” if Harris — whose parents are from India and Jamaica — is elected. The racist comment drew strong rebukes from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a top Trump ally. Graham called Loomer ”toxic″ and urged Trump to keep his distance from her.

“Some of the things she’s said about Republicans and others is disturbing,” Graham told HuffPost in September.

After endorsing Scott for GOP leader on Tuesday, Loomer warned in a social media post “about a few bad people who have been around Donald Trump lately who are giving him terrible advice on who to support in this Senate GOP race so that his entire 2nd term is undermined by people who have always hated him.”

The far-right Trump supporter pitched her show to Scott as an opportunity to lobby Trump voters — and Trump directly — for their help in the race for Senate GOP leader.

“We really appeal to the pulse of the MAGA base. President Trump himself listens to my show,” she said during the discussion. Later, she asked Scott, “What can the MAGA base do ... to get President Trump’s attention so that, one, he issues a statement calling for an open-ballot vote, and, two, he endorses you to become the next Senate GOP leader?”

“Let your voices be heard,” Scott responded, urging listeners to call Trump and their senators in support of his bid to lead Senate Republicans.

Much of the interview consisted of Loomer lobbing softballs to Scott regarding his competitors for the leadership post. But Loomer also pressed the Florida Republican on his stance on key Trumpian issues.

Asked by Loomer if he supported “mass deportations,” Scott said, “If you’re here illegally, you’re here illegally. It’s real simple. You shouldn’t be here. It’s as simple as that.” When Loomer brought up “election integrity,” Scott said people were “very concerned that Trump is going to win and then somehow Democrats are going to do something wrong.”

Most of all, though, Scott used his time with the well-known bigot and conspiracy theorist to pledge his loyalty to Trump, noting that he showed up in support of Trump at the Manhattan courtroom where Trump was ultimately found guilty of a hush money scheme.

“We need to have somebody that’s going to represent the Republican Trump voters,” he said of his bid for Senate leadership, adding later: “No one’s been a bigger supporter in the Senate than me for Donald Trump and what he believes in. ... Right now, it’s really just the Washington establishment versus Republicans that want to elect Trump.”

Notably, he also implied, falsely, that Democrats had been involved in the assassination attempt against Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, earlier this year. Referring to federal investigations and prosecutions, Scott named the Clinton, Obama and Biden administrations and said, “They pick who they want to go after. In this case, they’ve gone after Trump with these frivolous lawsuits. They’ve indicted him, they’ve convicted him, they’ve shot at him, they’ve done everything they can. What we’ve got to do — is whether we defund this DOJ, whatever we have to do, we’ve got to stop this.”