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The former leader of Project 2025 — the far-right blueprint for Donald Trump’s potential second term in the White House —has accused Trump’s campaign staff of “malpractice.”
Paul Dans, who headed the group that developed the plans, blasted two of Trump’s top aides, Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles, for their role in helping to push President Joe Biden out of the race and for having “no plans for Harris” when she replaced him on at the top of the ticket.
Dans, who left Project 2025 in July, told The New York Times: “They pushed Biden off the stage and they had no plans for Harris. That is on par with historic campaign malpractice.”
LaCivita and Wiles were reportedly the ones who pushed for the first presidential debate between Trump and Biden to take place earlier in June rather than September, which Dans told the newspaper he and others believed was “a mistake.”
The disastrous debate led to Biden dropping out of the race, which took aides by surprise. Just 11 days before Biden quit the race, LaCivita was quoted as saying it “doesn’t look like he’s going anywhere” — a sign of “arrogance,” according to Dans.
That gave Democrats an advantage twhen they announced Harris was stepping in as the presidential nominee.
Responding to Dans’ comments, Trump said in a statement to the Times: “Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita have done a great job, I could not be more happy with them.”
Project 2025 was developed by the Heritage Foundation, a far-right think tank. Its plans for a conservative presidency include a dramatic overhaul of the United States government — replacing civil servants with political loyalists, getting rid of key federal agencies and consolidating power to the executive branch.
It was largely drafted under the leadership of Dans, who was the chief of staff of the Office of Personnel Management in the Trump administration.
Though Trump has a years long relationship with the Heritage Foundation, he has attempted to distance himself from Project 2025, claiming he had “no idea who is behind it” and knows “nothing” about it.
But Dans claims this has merely helped Harris, who has used Project 2025’s unpopular ideas throughout her presidential campaign. “They took the bait,” Dans told the Times, referring to Trump’s campaign team.
