Top speakers at the Democratic National Convention ramped up their attacks against Project 2025 Wednesday, in a continued effort by Democrats to highlight the hard-right policy document and warn it would serve as a blueprint for former President Donald Trump’s administration if he wins a second term in office.
Comedian and actor Kenan Thompson speaks about Project 2025 on stage during the third day of the ... [+]
Wednesday night featured a breakdown of the policy document in a live sketch performed by Saturday Night Live star Kenan Thompson, who appeared on stage with an oversized book representing the controversial 900-page document.
Comparing it with the terms people have to agree to when downloading a new app on their phone, Thompson called Project 2025 “the terms and conditions of a second Trump presidency,” before highlighting its proposals about eliminating protections for LGBTQ Americans and curtailing access to abortion, among other things.
Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., referenced the document in his speech, saying if Trump has his way, “he’s going to push through their extreme agenda” before mockingly calling it “Project 1825” and “Project 1925.”
Pointing to the oversized Project 2025 book, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis warned Trump could use “an obscure law from the 1800s” to ban abortion in 50 states and later removed page 451 from the document to share with undecided voters, claiming it says “the only legitimate family is a married mother and father, where only the father works.”
While the page in question actually does not define “legitimate” families, it says “Families comprised of a married mother, father, and their children are the foundation of a well-ordered nation and healthy society,” and attacks policies supporting “LGBTQ+ equity” and “single-motherhood.”
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., said in her state that Project 2025 “isn't just a threat…It's a reality we battle every day,” before attacking Florida Governor Ron DeSantis “for turning the state into a testing ground for the right's most egregious, dangerous policies.”
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In the closing speech of the third night, Democratic Vice Presidential candidate and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz laid into the controversial policy document. “Some folks just don’t understand what it takes to be a good neighbor. Take Donald Trump and JD Vance. Their Project 2025 will make things much, much harder for people who are just trying to live their lives,” Walz said. The Minnesota Gov. said while Trump and Vance “spend a lot of time pretending they know nothing about” Project 2025, his experience as a school football coach tells him, “When somebody takes the time to draw up a playbook, they’re going to use it.” Walz said Project 2025 was an “agenda nobody asked for” and it only serves the “richest and the most extreme amongst us,” before adding “Is it weird? Absolutely. Absolutely. But it’s also wrong, and it’s dangerous.”
Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Del., who is running for Senate in November, also mentioned Project 2025 in her speech attacking Trump. She said Trump “has with his friends said the quiet parts out loud – but not only said it out loud, he wrote a book about it. What’s it called? Project 2025.” This is false, as Trump did not write Project 2025. The document, however, lists several authors and contributors who served in the former President’s administration.
Project 2025 is wide blueprint authored by the conservative thinktank Heritage Foundation that features several hard-right policy proposals seeking to completely overhaul the executive arm of the U.S. government. The plan outlines right-wing policies for matters ranging from taxes, abortion, climate change, student loans and replacing career civil servants with political appointees, among others. Despite not naming Trump directly, the policy document lays out a blueprint for the “next conservative president”—which the former President would be if he won in November. In the past few months, Trump and his campaign have tried to distance themselves from Project 2025, saying the former president has “nothing to do with” it.