The former president effectively “birthed” the project. Now that it’s a political liability, one of Trump’s foot soldiers is out of a job

As he entered the final stretch of the 2024 presidential race, Donald Trump spent much of this month trying to disown the highly Trumpy, Heritage Foundation-led Project 2025 — to the point that he even got his fans to boo the initiative during a recent campaign rally. His protracted freakout over the conservative project — to which he has multiple direct ties, and which is only as extreme as it is largely because of his influence — is driven almost entirely by Trump’s fear over one thing.

When the twice-impeached ex-president and convicted felon took to social media in early July to make the (patently absurd) claim that “I know nothing about Project 2025, [and] I have no idea who is behind it,” he added, “I disagree with some of the things they’re saying, and some of the things they’re saying are absolutely ridiculous and abysmal.” He did not specify what “things” he meant.

  • just_another_person@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    Trump’s ENTIRE message is “I might do this, I might do that”, and then hold for applause. This is what his followers don’t understand. They think he has the same ideals as they do, but they don’t understand he’s just a clown chasing applause.

    They saw his first term, and realized he wasn’t going to do Project 2025 stuff, and they immediately turned on him. Even his VP pick. Their focus is so honed into the “Dr Feelgood” bullshit of owning their opponents, that they can’t possibly see him absolutely not fucking it up a second time.

    Fool a fascist once…

    • cm0002@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      They saw his first term, and realized he wasn’t going to do Project 2025 stuff, and they immediately turned on him

      …did I miss something?

        • kautau@lemmy.world
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          4 months ago

          Their focus is so honed into the “Dr Feelgood” bullshit of owning their opponents, that they can’t possibly see him absolutely not fucking it up a second time

          Sure, but grammatically this is saying they know he will fuck up a second term, are you claiming he didn’t do project 2025 stuff to begin with?

          Trump has stated he wants to end democratic election.

          That’s it.

          Full stop.

          That’s the beginning of project 2025, him getting elected, all the rest just follows.

    • t3h_fool@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      In no place does Trump specify which ideas he disagrees with in Project 2025. He just doesn’t want to be associated with it. He is not really disavowing the ideas though, AFAIK. And at least for the anti-choice people, Trump has done much that is in line with Project 2025. And he mirrors many of their ideas on immigration.

      • tburkhol@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        Trump doesn’t want to be associated with “Project 2025” because “Project 2025” is getting beat up in the press. He likes all of the plans in the document, he just doesn’t like the name. It’s like how you’ll find conservatives still hate Obamacare, but are pretty happy with all the reforms and protections in the Affordable Care Act.

      • btaf45@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        If elected we can be certain that one of the first things that Convicted Felon and Sex Offender Treason Trump will tell us is that “we are going to implement Project 2025 as soon as possible”. And it will be true, but Trump will not tell us that to be informative. He will say that just to get our attention, like an abusive ex-spouse. And he will keep on playing the abusive ex-spouse demanding our attention the entire 4 years. In fact he will be turning up the heat the entire time hoping that he normalizes enshitification enough to end free elections.

      • mojofrododojo@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        we can’t promote this, I won’t get elected.

        “But it’s your platform.”

        can we just lie all the time? that worked well last time…

    • TrickDacy@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      Wtf? The project 2025 people were thrilled with his presidency and so were his supporters. They only “turned on him” for like 3 weeks after he lost. And that was a small percentage who even did that

  • solsangraal@lemmy.zip
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    4 months ago

    the fact that he didn’t have a single negative thing to say about it until people started calling him out on it says everything. the whole “i don’t know anything about it” defense is complete fucking horseshit

    • Sunforged@lemmy.ml
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      4 months ago

      I mean in the case of Trump it’s not actually far fetched. He is a useful idiot to the people with an agenda. Not to cut him any slack, just pointing out that he is a buffoon chasing approval, he thought he would get it for P2025 but now that there is blowback he’s legitimately like “I didn’t read it, I don’t read anything.”

  • ThePowerOfGeek@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    Trump didn’t birth that movement. He (and his hardcore followers) is this movement’s useful idiot. If Haley, Cruz, or whoever else had won the nomination in either this or the last election cycle, the Project 2025 initiative would have continued on just as strong.

    Trump might be the visible leader of the GOP right now, but he is not really pulling the reigns. The party is gripped with an internal power struggle: they have Trump and his followers with one agenda (and a lot of loud momentum right now), and the P2025 crowd with their own agenda. Sometimes the agendas match up, other times they conflict.

    But to see who really has the upper hand just look at where the big money infusions are coming from. Trump’s benefactors give money contingent on him following their goals. And for most of them P2025 is the path to their goals.

    Once Trump is of no more use to the big money donors they will drop him like a hot potato and move on to their next proxy.

    • Boddhisatva@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      He will remain a useful idiot for them for as long as he can motivate his hordes to fight, kill, and die for him. The ability to motivate people to that degree is no minor ability and it is prized by power brokers.

    • orbitz@lemmy.ca
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      4 months ago

      He’s a President like Zaphoid Beeblebrox was president in Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, Trump keeps the attention on him (great for a narcissist) and other people do things and make the real decisions. I don’t want to make light of it, but I really think that’s what’s happening here. The 2025 people are just waiting to push their their stuff through while their candidate doesn’t care as long as he is cheered for and has less legal troubles. He’s only upset because it showed negative in the polls, he doesn’t care otherwise about the thing.

    • kmartburrito@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      Well, he was certainly in the birthing room afterwards cooing over the new baby fascist project, and is now realizing that it’s an ugly baby and trying to disown it

  • Jo Miran@lemmy.ml
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    4 months ago

    When the twice-impeached ex-president and convicted felon took to social media…

    Ooof. Facts are brutal.

    • Revan343@lemmy.ca
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      4 months ago

      That’s not self-awareness, it’s just throwing his people under the bus if it becomes politically expedient to do so

    • GladiusB@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      It’s amazing he doesn’t have that self awareness with ethnicities, sexuality, sexes, economics, food, and basically any other interactions beyond anything superficial.

      In fact if they could test self awareness in any sort of matrices, in between a mannequin and Trump, I would bet on the mannequin.

  • 800XL@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    He can say whatever he wants because the non-maga republicans will say “oh he doesn’t like it, he changed his mind” and single issue vote republican. If he wins and gets to office and puts all those things into effect he lied and said he didn’t like, jokes on them.

    Maga chuds just like whatever he likes. If they love it and he says he doesn’t, no worries because they’ll flip at the drop of a hat. If he gets to office and acts on implementing it no worries either because they’ll flip again and make up some bullshit about how they knew from the get-go because it’s “part of the plan”

  • Jesus@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    Trump is a useful idiot that, like with his last presidency, will just implement the prepackaged stuff that is handed to him.

    Justices, department appointees, legislation, etc. When he was in office he basically just rubber stamped dumb right wing stuff that was packaged up from places like the Heritage foundation.

    He WILL do the same thing this time around.

  • DxK@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    If you’re upset that the American public discovered what you plan to do while in office and think it may harm your campaign, then you are a fascist. There is no gray area here.

  • ohlaph@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    Hmm… associating and implementing policies for radical religious fruitcakes backfires…

  • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    Hey hey hey. They are ALL lunatics. And creepy weirdos. Scum like donnie and the freaks in the Heritage Foundation deserve each other.

  • Passerby6497@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    I really hope they keep on the project 2025 attacks, because you can easily tie so many of those heritage foundation pricks directly to trump and his previous administration. He can say all he wants that he isn’t associated with them and wont let them near the whitehouse, but he’d have to have an entire new group of advisors to be able to do that.