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Florida Senator Marco Rubio, a possible contender for Donald Trump’s vice presidential pick, went to bat for the former president on Sunday by trying to distance the presumptive Republican nominee from Project 2025.
“Think tanks do think tank stuff they come up with ideas, they say things,” Rubio told CNN’s State of the Union when he was asked if he was “comfortable” with the policies outlined in the project headed by the conservative Heritage Foundation.
Rubio downplayed the impact of the 920-page project which proposes consolidating executive power and replacing civil servants with ideologically like-minded individuals.
When confronted with a clip of The Heritage Foundation president claiming the US is “in the process of a second American revolution” that “will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be”, Rubio quickly dismissed it.
“Well he’s not running for president,” Rubio said. “I mean our candidate is Donald Trump, I didn’t see Donald Trump say that”
Rubio’s tactics mimic that of Trump who this week said he knows “nothing” of Project 2025 or those behind it, despite multiple former Trump administration officials having some role in it.
This includes former aide John McEntee, former chief of staff for the Office of Personnel Management Paul Dans and former director of the Office of Management and Budget Russ Vought. Stephen Miller, a former Trump advisor, has also appeared in an advertisement for Project 2025.
Project 2025’s collection of right-wing policy proposals has garnered negative media attention, especially when it comes to the major campaign issue of abortion.
One policy outlined in Project 2025 includes suggesting the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) should revise and withdraw its initial approval of the abortion pill.
The Republican Party has long held an anti-abortion stance but that may change with Trump who has supported leaving abortion access up to each state and rejected blocking access to mifepristone – one of the key medications in the abortion pill.
Rubio told State of the Union that he likes some of the policies The Heritage Foundation stands for but that the Republican Party platform must “reflect our nominee”.
Another possible Trump VP contender, Ohio Senator JD Vance, similarly distanced the former president from Project 2025 in an interview with NBC News saying Trump has “his own transition team”.
“The Heritage Foundation does a lot of good work, it does a lot of things I disagree with, a lot of things that I agree with,” Vance said.
“I guarantee there are things that Trump likes and dislikes about that 900-page document,” he continued, referring to the mandate.
“But he is the person who will determine the agenda into the next administration.”
