Make Trump state what exactly is wrong with Project 2025

Fearful of Democratic attacks, Trump is desperately running from the far-right blueprint his own former and current aides helped draft. But he's not explained what's bad about it. Make him.

Note to readers: I'm on vacation, a week at the beach to relax and recharge before I attend what will be an exciting Democratic National Convention in Chicago, which I’ll cover for my SiriusXM program.

So it’s been light posting. I’m back Friday, August 2. Thanks!

Hello readers,

I write you from glorious Fire Island, where I’ve been on vacation since last Thursday.

What a relief it was to have Vice President Harris galvanize the Democratic Party as President Biden stepped down as the Democratic candidate, just before my leaving for a week of relaxation.

Perfect timing on my end!

And to now see what’s been happening as I look in at the news now and then, it’s truly remarkable and quite marvelous. The Democratic Party is totally united and Harris is surging, while the GOP is in disarray and Trump is flailing. What a turnaround from two weeks ago!

Seeing the clips from the Harris rally last night, where she electrified an audience of 10,000 in Atlanta, many of whom chanted, “Lock him up!" was also an inverse of 2016, when Trump led those same chants against Hillary Clinton. Of course, Clinton had committed no crimes, while Trump has now been found guilty on 34 felony counts and is charged with many more. So it was more than fitting.

And it was very powerful—and again, a turnaround—when Harris mocked Trump as weak and cowardly for not debating him, criticizing him and JD Vance for their attacks on her, and goading Trump to, “Say it to my face!”

Democrats are defining what is right and normal, with Harris and many surrogates seizing on “weird” Trump, Vance, and the GOP—something we’ve all known for a long time and what most Americans see. It’s energizing to see Democrats being aggressive and on the offensive while Trump is running for cover.

Yesterday, Trump forced out the director of Project 2025, former Trump administration personnel official Paul Dans, who resigned as Trump became furious that Democrats and Harris have been hammering away on the authoritarian blueprint and Trump’s embrace of it. This is just one way Trump is suddenly on the run—don’t even get started on J.D. Vance!—but it’s futile and way too late.

According to the Washington Post, Project 2025, the collaborative effort of 110 groups led by the Heritage Foundation, is “winding down its policy operations,” while the Heritage Foundation “recently distributed new talking points encouraging participants to emphasize that the project does not speak for Trump.” This came after Trump’s campaign officials angrily lashed out at Project 2025 officials privately, worried about how the connection would play in the election.

Don’t be fooled by any of that, of course. And regarding Trump’s campaign and his plans, none of this will cut it. This is a classic example of the Streisand effect, in which attempts to hide or downplay something cause it to gain even more public awareness. (And, of course, if Trump can force out the director it mean he’s got great influence over the whole project.)

Trump now has the media focused on Project 2025 simply by trying to disavow it, and they’re focused on the fact that many more of his current and former aides are involved in Project 2025, which means that the stepping down of the director means little.

As noted earlier this month by the Washington Post:

People involved in Project 2025 include Ben Carson, Trump’s former housing secretary; Peter Navarro, White House trade adviser under Trump; and Russ Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget under Trump. Earlier this year, Trump and the Republican National Committee named Vought as policy director for the RNC committee crafting the party platform ahead of its national convention this month in Milwaukee.

Trump’s former White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, is a senior partner in one of the groups advising Project 2025, the Conservative Partnership Institute. And John McEntee, director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office under Trump, serves as a senior adviser to Project 2025.

Biden’s campaign also pointed out that a Trump campaign spokesperson, Karoline Leavitt, appeared in a September 2023 video promoting Project 2025′s training program for potential future political appointees. The video features several former Trump administration staffers identifying themselves, with Leavitt noting she was Trump’s assistant press secretary.

So it’s laughable for Trump to push out the director while so many of his close past and present associates are working on Project 2025—and Democrats and Harris just continue to hit on this.

More importantly, what exactly is Trump trying to distance himself from? Project 2025 mirrors his own plans—many of which he’s stated at rallies—written for him by his closest aides, along with others, and put into a blueprint.

As I wrote earlier this month, Trump hasn’t stated what he’s opposed to in it, which includes:

Rounding up millions of people. Mass deportation camps. The Unitary Executive Theory giving the president “absolute immunity.” Ending the administrative state and firing millions of government workers in the “deep state.” Vacating protections for LGBTQ people and ending gender-affirming care. Stopping diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. Banning abortion. Dramatically expanding the death penalty. Rolling back Biden administration policies on energy, environmental policy, defense, and foreign aid, such as to Ukraine.

I could go on and on—all of it is in Project 2025 and all of it is in line with what Trump has stated at his rallies are his plans or, via his packed Supreme Court, has already put in motion.

Now that he’s on the run, Trump must be made to answer what he thinks is so bad in Project 2025, what exactly he is against. He’s afraid to say it, but now he’s backed into a corner. This is probably one of the many reasons he’s afraid to debate Kamala Harris. But he must be forced to be clear about it.

Again, this is just one of many areas in which Trump is on the run and Harris is driving the narrative.

It’s really great to see this, but as Harris has said, it’s no time to rest. "We got a fight ahead of us and we are the underdogs in this race," she said at her first fundraiser since officially announcing her candadicy. "But this is a people-powered campaign, and we have momentum."

So yes, it’s been great to see all of this while I’m getting energized and recharged to come back on Friday, where I’ll be live on my SiriusXM program (where the great Joe Sudbay, as usual, has done an excellent job guest-hosting while I’m away), and then on to the Democratic National Convention with the show later this month, which will likely be one of the most exciting DNC’s in years.

And now I leave it all to you again to discuss while I finish out my vacation. Thanks all!