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Tag: John McEntee

  • Playing In Our Faces: Donald Trump Tries To Distance Himself From #Project2025 Backlash — ‘I Know Nothing’

    Playing In Our Faces: Donald Trump Tries To Distance Himself From #Project2025 Backlash — ‘I Know Nothing’

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    Source: The Washington Post / Getty

    Donald Trump questionably claims he’s an expert on everything else, but now he expects us to believe he has “no knowledge” of Project 2025 and its oppressive plans to give him unprecedented power as president. After the plan, directed by Trump’s former chief of staff, exploded online, that would make him the last person in the country to hear about it. 

    In his Philly campaign rally speech, Trump stated, “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.”

    According to AP News, he posted a statement distancing himself from Project 2025 on his social media website. “Anything they do, I wish them luck, but I have nothing to do with them.”

    Wish them luck? PLEASE.

    Project 2025: The Drastic Plan Trump “Doesn’t Know About”

    Let’s break down what Trump is desperately trying to distance himself from. Project 2025 is a 922-page plan that proposes a massive expansion of presidential power. The project includes but isn’t limited to: 

    • firing up to 50,000 government workers to replace them with Trump loyalists (JUST SICK)
    • National abortions ban
    • Birth control, IVF, and STD Testing restrictions
    • Patient Data exposure
    • Eliminating the Department of Education and free school lunch programs
    • Enforcing Christian principles
    • Removing Environmental Protection Agency and protections for endangered species
    • Implementing tax policies that benefit the wealthy
    • Weaken unions and workplace safety regulations
    • End FBI efforts to combat disinformation
    • Repeal Acts for Civil Rights, Voting Rights, Fair Housing
    • End gender equality protections
    • Getting rid of DEI workers and training programs
    • Criminalizing LGBTQ+ rights and homelessness
    • Using the U.S. military against the U.S. citizens

    Yet Trump would have us believe he’s completely in the dark about it. It’s hard to swallow, especially given his past authoritarian actions and statements.

    The Social Media Firestorm

    What’s really pushed Trump into this awkward denial is the social media uproar. Project 2025 has been trending online and on television screens. As BOSSIP previously covered, celebrities such as Taraji P. Henson are taking part in the activism against it.

    Taraji didn’t hold back at the BET Awards, calling the oppressive overthrow of the government for what it is. Her bold move has put even more pressure on Trump and spread awareness of the initiative. Now, he’s backtracking and expecting us to fall for it despite his party’s track record of calling for these extremist policies.

    Trump can try to address the elephant in the room, but his response is far from convincing.

    Trump’s Ties to Project 2025 Figures

    The key players behind Project 2025 are all Trump insiders:

    • Paul Dans, the project’s director, was a former chief of staff at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management under Trump.
    • John McEntee, a senior adviser, was the director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office.
    • Russ Vought, a significant contributor, is on the Republican National Committee’s platform writing committee.

    With such close ties, Trump’s denial is more than just suspicious; it’s strategic.

    Conservative Leaders’ Radical Agenda

    Conservative leaders are openly declaring their revolutionary intentions to drag the U.S. back to the 1800s.

    AP News states that Kevin Roberts, Heritage Foundation President, declared on Steve Bannon’s War Room podcast, “We are in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be.”

    With over 110 conservative groups involved, they’re pushing policy and personnel recommendations for the next conservative president. This isn’t just about Trump; it’s a full-blown attempt to reshape America.

    Trump’s Extreme Agenda

    Even if he’s trying to sidestep Project 2025, Trump’s own plans are still alarming. Research shows that he’s gearing up for a massive deportation operation and wants to potentially tariff all imports if he gets a second term.

    These proposals, when combined with Project 2025, paint a chilling picture of the future. It’s devastating enough that his SCOTUS picks have lifetime control over our laws and seemingly use it to dismantle more civil rights by the day.

    Trump’s campaign has previously warned outside allies not to speak for him, yet Karoline Leavitt, a campaign spokeswoman, has been featured in Project 2025’s videos. The hypocrisy is staggering.

    It’s as if they want to distance themselves while simultaneously keeping the radical base riled up. Talk about having your cake and eating it, too. 

    Democrats Sound the Alarm

    The Democratic response has been fierce. The Biden campaign has slammed Project 2025 as a “violent revolution to destroy the very idea of America.”

    AP found that Ammar Moussa from the Biden campaign described it as an “extreme policy and personnel playbook for Trump’s second term that should scare the hell out of the American people.”

    On Independence Day, the Biden campaign posted a dystopian image from “The Handmaid’s Tale” on X, captioned, “Fourth of July under Trump’s Project 2025.”

    It’s a clear warning about the dangerous path ahead. 

    What’s Next?

    Trump’s comments come as the Republican Party prepares to draft its party platform, and Project 2025 is gearing up to share a 180-day agenda for the next administration privately.

    As these developments unfold, the American public must stay alert and informed. Trump’s denial might be a tactical move, but the implications of Project 2025 are too significant and dangerous to ignore. 

    This isn’t just about political maneuvering; it’s about the future of our democracy and lives.

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    Lauryn Bass

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  • Trump seeks to distance himself from pro-Trump Project 2025

    Trump seeks to distance himself from pro-Trump Project 2025

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    (CNN) — Former President Donald Trump on Friday sought to distance himself from a closely aligned conservative group’s plans to radically reshape the federal government and American life should the former president win a second term.

    In a post to his social media site, Trump claimed, “I know nothing about Project 2025,” the name given to a playbook crafted by the Heritage Foundation to fill the executive branch with thousands of Trump loyalists and reorient its many agencies’ missions around conservative ideals.

    “I have no idea who is behind it,” Trump continued on Truth Social. “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.”

    The post comes days after the president of the Heritage Foundation, Kevin Roberts, drew widespread backlash from Democrats for saying in an interview that the country was “in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be.”

    Project 2025 — widely viewed by conservatives as a blueprint for Trump’s second term transition — is run by several former Trump administration officials and includes many policy priorities that are aligned with those of the former president, especially as they relate to cracking down on immigration and purging the federal bureaucracy by making it easier to dismiss civil servants and career officials.

    But it also includes controversial proposals Trump has not discussed, including banning pornographyreversing federal approval of the abortion pill mifepristone, excluding the morning-after pill and men’s contraceptives from coverage mandated under the Affordable Care Act, and making it harder for transgender adults to transition.

    Among the chief objectives of Project 2025, its authors wrote, is: “Restore the family as the centerpiece of American life and protect our children.”

    Trump’s campaign has sought for months to make clear that Project 2025 is not its official policy platform amid an intensifying effort by President Joe Biden and Democrats to tie Trump to its more controversial policies.

    Yet those efforts are complicated by Trump’s extremely close relationship with many of the people who launched Project 2025 or helped contribute to it. Paul Dans, the head of Project 2025, was chief of staff at the Office of Personnel Management during the Trump administration, and the group’s roadmap for the next administration includes contributions from others who have worked for the former president, including his former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, former acting Deputy Homeland Security Secretary Ken Cuccinelli and former deputy chief of staff Rick Dearborn. John McEntee, Trump’s former director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office and one of his closest aides while in office, is also a senior adviser for the project.

    Trump himself told a gathering of religious broadcasters in February that Roberts was “doing an unbelievable job” and “bringing (Heritage) back to levels never seen.”

    The remarks came at a Nashville conference shortly after Roberts and Dans both addressed the same crowd. Dans shared with the audience it was his intention to serve in a second Trump administration should the former president win in November. Speaking before Trump about Project 2025 that night, Roberts said, “We want no credit” for the groundwork it is laying, and instead wanted “President Trump and his administration to take credit for that.”

    The group has long stated its transition project is a template they hope will be adopted by the next Republican president, something a Project 2025 spokeswoman reiterated in a statement to CNN.

    “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,” the statement reads.

    A senior Trump campaign adviser told CNN that Trump’s post disavowing the group stemmed from a series of factors, most notably the Biden campaign’s recent messaging campaign tying Trump to the project.

    Project 2025 has long frustrated Trump and his top advisers, who have been annoyed with the amount of coverage its policy platforms have received and the perception that the group is working in tandem with the campaign — despite Project 2025 partnering with a series of top Trump allies.

    The group’s partners include several leading conservative groups with close ties to Trump’s campaign, including those who have been tapped by Trump’s advisers to serve as part of their 2024 ground game strategy in key battleground states, such as Turning Points USA.

    Other high-profile organizations partnered with Project 2025 include the Center for Renewing America, run by Trump’s former director of the Office of Management and Budget, Russ Vought, who is viewed by many in Trump’s orbit as a likely contender for another Cabinet position in a second administration and is helping to lead the GOP platform committee ahead of the Republican National Convention later this month. The Conservative Partnership Institute, run in part by Trump’s former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and former Sen. Jim Demint, and America Legal First, founded by his immigration adviser Stephen Miller, are also partners.

    The Biden campaign on Friday quickly dismissed Trump’s attempts to keep Project 2025 at arm’s length.

    ​​“Project 2025 is the extreme policy and personnel playbook for Trump’s second term that should scare the hell out of the American people,” Biden campaign spokesman Ammar Moussa said in a statement. “Project 2025 staff and leadership routinely tout their connections to Trump’s team, and are the same people leading the RNC policy platform and Trump’s debate prep, campaign, and inner circle.”

    The Trump campaign has previously pushed back on reports about plans Trump’s allies are looking to implement if Trump wins reelection. Trump’s campaign managers Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita issued a statement in November arguing that “reports about personnel and policies that are specific to a second Trump Administration are purely speculative and theoretical” and that no outside groups have the authority to speak on behalf of Trump or the campaign.

    LaCivita doubled down further on Friday, tweeting: “Poke the Bear you are going to be bit” while sharing an article titled: “Trump torches Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025.”

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    CNN

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