The Harris-Walz campaign is using the conservative Project 2025 plan to go after Black voters, arguing Black Americans would be hurt if the agenda went forward under a second term for former President Trump.
Titled “Backwards,” the ad lays out how Project 2025 calls for eliminating the Department of Education and a nationwide abortion ban.
“Trump's Project 2025 agenda will give him unchecked political power with no guardrails, and it would take Black America backwards,” the narrator says. “Project 2025 would strip away our voting rights protections, and it eliminates the Department of Education. It would also require states to monitor women's pregnancies. It bans abortion and would rip away health coverage for millions.”
Trump has sought to distance himself from Project 2025, calling some of its proposals or plans “ridiculous,” but Democrats have repeatedly noted the links between the conservative plans and Trump, including authors who worked for the Trump administration.
The ad is part of the Harris-Walz campaign’s $370 million plan in digital and television advertising between Labor Day and Election Day. It is the campaign’s second ad hitting Trump on Project 2025.
“Donald Trump’s Project 2025 makes one thing clear to Black America: he doesn’t give a damn about us. His Project 2025 will take our community backwards; ripping away voting rights protections, reproductive freedom, eliminate the Department of Education, and require states to monitor pregnancies,” said Quentin Fulks, the Harris-Walz principal deputy campaign manager.
The ad will air during sporting events in battleground states, including during the Michigan vs. Texas football game on Sept. 7 and the Falcons-Steelers NFL season opener on Sept. 8. It will also air during daytime television programming like The Today Show and shows popular among Black Americans including Sherri, The Jennifer Hudson Show.
Project 2025 is a 900-page “governing agenda” that lists conservative goals should Republicans regain the White House. Polls show that about 78 percent of Americans have at least heard about Project 2025, even if they are not fully aware of what it entails.
Contributors to the creation of the plan include ex-Trump administration officials Ben Carson and Ken Cuccinelli. Project 2025 is also headed up by former Trump administration official Paul Dans.
In all, CNN found a minimum of 140 people who had been part of the Trump administration were involved in Project 2025.
But Trump has denied any personal connection to Project 2025 and called attempts to link him to the transitional plan “pure disinformation.”
“I know nothing about Project 2025. I have not seen it, have no idea who is in charge of it, and, unlike our very well received Republican Platform, had nothing to do with it,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
