Donald Trump’s recent denial that he knows anything about Project 2025, a 900-page proposal by the Heritage Foundation think-tank for a radical reconfiguring of the US federal government to suit hard-line conservatives, has been ridiculed by one of his former Republican allies.
“This is preposterous if you look at the collaborators and the authors of this plan,” commented ex-Mike Pence adviser Olivia Troye on CNN.
“A lot of these people… served in Trump’s cabinet during his administration. There are people that I worked with. I sat in those policy meetings with them.”
Naming ex-Trump administration figures John McEntee, Stephen Miller, Ben Carson and Ken Cuccinelli, Troye added: “I think what this is telling us is that Donald Trump knows that what is written in this plan is so extreme that it is damaging to his possibility of getting elected, and that’s what he’s concerned about.”
Meanwhile, the eyes of the world will once more be on President Joe Biden as he hosts a Nato summit in Washington DC amid ongoing concerns about his fitness to contest the election and serve another term in office and fresh calls for him to quit the 2024 race.
Rubio tries to put distance between Project 2025 and Trump
Florida Senator Marco Rubio, a possible contender for Donald Trump’s vice presidential pick, went to bat for the former president on Sunday by trying to distance the presumptive Republican nominee from Project 2025.
“Think tanks do think tank stuff they come up with ideas, they say things,” Rubio told CNN’s State of the Union when asked if he was “comfortable” with the policies outlined in the project headed by the conservative Heritage Foundation.
Oliver O’Connell9 July 2024 17:20
‘Uneasiness’ permeates White House as Biden enters critical week
Gustaf Kilander reports from Washington, DC.
Oliver O’Connell9 July 2024 17:00
What has Biden said to Democrat lawmakers?
President Joe Biden attempted to head off calls for him to step aside with a defiant letter to congressional Democrats on Monday, in which he says exiting the race would be an affront to democracy.
Andrew Feinberg filed this report from the White House.
Oliver O’Connell9 July 2024 16:30
Clyburn: ‘We are riding with Biden’
South Carolina Rep Jim Clyburn — a key Biden supporter in the 2020 primary — was succinct when leaving the meeting: “We are riding with Biden.”
Oliver O’Connell9 July 2024 16:12
Lauren Boebert attacks ‘Sleepy Joe’ after Trump debate
Here’s Sheila Flynn on the MAGA firebrand finding herself in rare agreement with her political nemesis, Democrat Adam Frisch, regarding the commander-in-chief.
Oliver O’Connell9 July 2024 16:00
‘Sadness’ at Democrat meeting
CNN’s Lauren Fox says one Democratic lawmaker described a sense of “sadness” in the room as some members solidly made the case for Joe Biden to step aside.
They said it was sad “talking about someone you love who is in obvious decline”.
Oliver O’Connell9 July 2024 15:50
Democrat meeting ‘felt like a funeral’
Jake Sherman of Punchbowl News reports one Democrat lawmaker as saying the atmosphere in the caucus meeting “felt like a funeral”.
No consensus appears to have been reached and there was a lot of talk about how difficult the situation is for party members.
Oliver O’Connell9 July 2024 15:40
Lincoln Project imagines dystopian US in devastating new ad
Anti-Trump conservative group The Lincoln Project has launched its latest ad imagining a dystopian American under a second Donald Trump presidency based many of the aims stated by Project 2025.
Oliver O’Connell9 July 2024 15:30
‘I shared my position and how I came to it’
Massachusetts rep Seth Moulton, one of the six Democrat lawmakers who publicly called on Joe Biden to step aside from the ticket, told CNN’s Annie Grayer of the party meeting: “I shared my position and how I came to it.”
He added: “Everyone was listening very carefully to a variety of positions in the room.”
Oliver O’Connell9 July 2024 15:25
