After one of the heads of Project 2025, Paul Dans, stepped down on Tuesday, there was an immediate backlash from the right against Trump campaign staff.
The conservative manifesto has drawn a lot of criticism and attacks from Democrats, with Trump even taking issue with some of its extreme policy items, particularly its restrictions on abortion rights. But several right-wing personalities are directing their aim at Trump advisers for pushing out Dans, concerned that the move is a signal Trump is abandoning the project.
Mike Cernovich specifically targeted Chris LaCivita, one of Trump’s campaign managers, in several posts on X (formerly Twitter).
Mollie Hemingway, editor in chief of The Federalist, and Chris Lonsdale, a Missouri state representative, also jumped in to attack Trump staff.
The gleeful email that LaCivita and Trump’s other campaign manager, Susie Wiles, sent out Tuesday celebrating “Project 2025’s demise” appears to have provoked anger from many on the right. They are refusing to believe reports that Trump himself is annoyed that the project has received so much attention, or that he resents the implication that the project is behind his policies and choosing his presidential staff.
None of this can change the fact that Trump and his campaign have extensive ties to Project 2025. Vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance even wrote the foreword to a book by one of its lead architects, Kevin Roberts, who was very happy when Trump chose Vance as his running mate. Meanwhile, all of the infighting over how much influence the project actually has will only make Republicans look weirder.
