Former President Donald Trump disavowed Project 2025, a policy outline crafted by the president of a conservative think tank, claiming he has nothing to do with it in a Friday morning post on Truth Social.
“I know nothing about Project 2025. I have no idea who is behind it. I disagree with some of the things they’re saying and some of the things they’re saying are absolutely ridiculous and abysmal. Anything they do, I wish them luck, but I have nothing to do with them,” Trump wrote of the initiative, spearheaded by Heritage Foundation president Kevin Roberts.
Many of Trump’s critics have used Project 2025 as a cudgel against him, with Democratic apparatuses appearing to shift their messaging campaigns to harp on the policy projection as a counterattack in the wake of President Biden’s debate performance. (RELATED: Polls: Trump Has More Than Doubled His Lead Over Biden Since the Debate)
Biden’s website lays out a comprehensive screed of the campaign’s interpretation of the project, calling it a “920 page plan to give Trump more power over your daily life, gut democratic checks and balances, and consolidate power in the oval office.”
Biden’s website claims, among other things, that it would reduce reproductive rights. Trump has repeatedly denied plans to reduce abortion access to Americans, maintaining that it’s a states’ rights issue. Trump stated support for the Supreme Court’s decision not to ban the use of abortion pills during the CNN debate in June.
Hillary Clinton weighed in on Project 2025 as well, calling it “the MAGA movement’s plan to consolidate power under a re-elected Trump and exert more control over everyday Americans’ lives,” in a Wednesday tweet.
Project 2025 is the MAGA movement’s plan to consolidate power under a re-elected Trump and exert more control over everyday Americans’ lives.
Think I’m exaggerating? Read it for yourself.https://t.co/N4G4FOqUXK pic.twitter.com/iFa5GtZeIv
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) July 3, 2024
Mentions of Project 2025 have also skyrocketed in the days following the debate, with the phrase reaching 200 mentions per hour on Reddit after the debate, according to an analysis from the Reddit Lies Twitter account.
The hysteria surrounding Project 2025 is a disinformation campaign designed to scare people to voting for Biden.
After Biden’s terrible debate performance last week the “Defeat Project 2025” Reddit bots have quadrupled their activity. pic.twitter.com/P1uGy8VagD
— Reddit Lies (@reddit_lies) July 3, 2024
Representatives for Project 2025 maintain it is not a Trump-specific plan, but rather a set of recommendations for any conservative President.
“As we’ve been saying for more than two years now, Project 2025 does not speak for any candidate or campaign. We are a coalition of more than 110 conservative groups advocating policy and personnel recommendations for the next conservative president. But it is ultimately up to that president, who we believe will be President Trump, to decide which recommendations to implement,” a Project 2025 spokesman told the Daily Caller.
