A KEY figure in the Project 2025 movement has resigned amid rumors of a feud between Donald Trump and his vice-presidential hopeful, JD Vance.
Paul Dans has stepped down as director of the Heritage Foundation, which pushes for complete reform of the federal government.
However, it received major criticism from Donald Trump’s campaign, which tried to distance itself from the program created by many of the former president’s allies.
Dans’ departure comes after the project “completed exactly what it set out to do,” according to Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts.
Roberts has become the project’s main spokesperson and plans to lead it in the future.
“Our collective efforts to build a staffing apparatus for policymakers at all levels – federal, state and local – will continue,” he told Associated press.
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The Trump campaign issued a statement following Dans’ resignation, calling it the “end” of Project 2025.
“President Trump’s campaign has been very clear for over a year that Project 2025 has nothing to do with the campaign, does not speak for the campaign, and should not be associated with the president in any way,” the statement read.
“Reports on the end of Project 2025 would be most welcome and should serve as a warning to any person or group trying to misrepresent their influence with President Trump and his campaign – this will not end well for you.”
Democrats have turned Project 2025 – which used to be a dark far-right dream – into an important element of the presidential election.
Several figures have pointed to the project as a vision of a possible second Trump administration.
The nearly 1,000-page manual reveals a plan for massive changes to the federal government, including changes to personnel rules to ensure the government is more loyal to the president.
Heritage also created a database of potential new employees for the potential Trump administration.
However, Trump denied any involvement with the project, saying he had not read it.
At a rally in Michigan earlier this month, he said Project 2025 was written by people on the “far right,” calling some of it “seriously extreme.”
However, Trump’s running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance, wrote a foreword for Roberts’ new book.
“The Heritage Foundation is not a random outpost on Capitol Hill; is and has been the most influential engine of ideas for Republicans, from Ronald Reagan to Donald Trump,” Vance wrote, per AP.
What is Project 2025?
Project 2025 gained widespread attention during the 2024 presidential election race.
The project is a collection of conservative and right-wing policy proposals aimed at reshaping the United States federal government.
These proposed policies aim to consolidate executive power, but depend on the victory of the Republican Party candidate in the 2024 presidential election.
According to Project 2025, it will be built on four pillars: a political agenda, personnel, training and a 180-day manual.
The 922-page bill lays out several policy proposals, including reshaping the powers of the executive branch, according to The Hill.
The bill, also known as the 2025 Presidential Transition Bill, also calls for the removal of several small government agencies.
Although Trump supported several of the policies proposed in his 2024 campaign speeches, he also distanced himself from Project 2025.
In July 2024, Trump insisted he had nothing to do with it.
His campaign said in a statement: “Reports about the end of Project 2025 would be most welcome and should serve as a warning to any person or group trying to misrepresent your influence with President Trump and his campaign – this will not end well for you.” .
In another section of the book, Vance continued, “Now we are all realizing that it is time to round up the wagons and load the muskets. In the struggles that lie ahead, these ideas are an essential weapon.”
CRACK RUMORS
Vance repeatedly made headlines this week for comments that resurfaced in November 2020 on a podcast.
He said that childless Americans were “more sociopathic” than those with children and argued that this made the country “less mentally stable.”
Vance doubled down on the comments in an interview on Tucker Carlson Tonight in August 2021, when he referred to Democratic women as “childless hot women.”
Rumors have since begun to circulate that Trump made a mistake in choosing Vance as his running mate.
But Trump defended Vance’s comments in an interview with Laura Ingraham on Fox News on Monday night.
“He grew up in a very interesting family situation and feels that family is good. And I don’t think there’s anything wrong with saying that,” Trump added.
Trump called out Vance before Biden’s decision to drop out, and the negative headlines contributed to whether the Republican candidate made the right decision.
Republican senators revealed The hill that they believed new developments in the election changed Vance’s favorability.
“I assume he’s not very happy,” one Republican senator said of how Trump might feel about the negative publicity that has hit his running mate in recent days.
“I don’t think Trump likes any discomfort. He can create discomfort himself, but he doesn’t like external discomfort coming in and JD struggling. I would say he’s not very happy.”
Republican National Committee rules state that the committee can only replace Vance as vice presidential candidate in the event of “death, refusal or other reason.”
“Trump would hate anything that took him down, but he would never think he made a mistake,” the senator said.
DONALD TRUMP’S FULL STATEMENT ON VP’S CHOICE
After long deliberation and reflection, and considering the tremendous talents of many others, I have decided that the person best suited to assume the office of Vice President of the United States is Senator JD Vance of the Great State of Ohio.
JD honorably served our country in the Marine Corps, graduated from Ohio State University in two years, Summa Cum Laude, and graduated from Yale Law School, where he was editor of The Yale Law Journal and president of the Yale Law Veterans Association.
JD’s book, “Elegia caipira”, became a huge bestseller and film, as he defended the working men and women of our country.
JD has had a very successful business career in Technology and Finance, and now, during the Campaign, he will be heavily focused on the people he fought so brilliantly for, the American Workers and Farmers in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Minnesota and far beyond ….
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