As much as Donald Trump denies it, it's clear that Project 2025 is a blueprint for what will happen if he manages to occupy the White House a second time. With more than 140 members of Trump’s past and current staff involved in writing the Heritage Foundation’s plan and running mate JD Vance lavishing praise on it, this is a document custom-written for Trump.
Vance even wrote the foreword for Heritage leader Kevin Roberts’ new book. The connections between Trump, Roberts, Vance, and the 900-page handbook for scrapping American democracy and replacing it with a Christian nationalist authoritarian government run deep.
But that doesn't mean Project 2025 is just about Trump. Because it takes more than the power of the White House to rip apart our institutions—at least at the start. To really get the wrecking balls flying, Project 2025 would also need some quislings in Congress. And few are more open about their support for the Heritage Foundation than Florida Sen. Rick Scott.
Scott is deeply connected with both Project 2025 and Roberts. It’s not just a matter of Scott praising Roberts (although that has certainly happened), or of Roberts praising Scott (although … that too).
This has been a long-term collaborative partnership. Scott has worked directly with Roberts and the Heritage Foundation to produce a video series blaming Democratic policies for the national debt without mentioning the effects of Republican tax policies. Scott’s video series also blamed inflation on President Joe Biden’s policies while ignoring the need to keep businesses and individuals solvent during the pandemic or the disaster that Trump left behind.
Scott has appeared on Roberts’ podcast to criticize investigations into Trump, and Roberts has praised Scott’s plan for fighting “woke extremism.” It’s no wonder why: With its nationwide ban on abortion, plan to replace public education with a voucher scheme, and of course “keeping men out of women’s sports” talking point, Scott’s 12-point agenda (which actually includes over 100 policy proposals) contains a lot of the same ideas as Project 2025.
In fact, Scott has already put the Heritage Foundation to work in the war on democracy. When he was governor of Florida, Scott hired the author of Project 2025’s chapter on election reform, attorney Hans von Spakovsky, to help conduct a purge of Florida’s voter rolls. Voter suppression has become critical to the GOP’s hold over Florida.
Two years ago, Scott and Roberts were side by side to promote Scott’s “plan for rescuing America.” Together they sold a paranoid vision of a drowning nation that could only be saved by “bold leadership.”
“Consider our situation in America today,” Scott said. “The militant left now controls the entire federal government, the news media, universities, Hollywood, big tech, and most corporate boardrooms. But they want more. They’re redefining America and silencing their opponents.”
Florida Sen. Rick Scott spoke at The Heritage Foundation on March 31, 2022.
Not only was Scott strangely able to speak up despite this so-called militant left, this was March 2022. Fox News, Newsmax, and One America News were all on the air. Elon Musk was a mere three weeks away from buying Twitter, and in Florida, schools and universities had already been swept clear of books and programs on American history under GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis’ “Stop WOKE act.” None of that stopped Scott from casting Republicans who dominated the majority of state legislatures as plucky underdogs.
Scott would be back at the Heritage Foundation in November for the Heritage Action Sentinel Summit, where he again spoke out against “radical woke indoctrination” and “the woke demands of the radical left who are destroying our country with debt, indoctrination, and socialism.” While there, he warned about “woke schools” and the “woke military.” And he told the gathered conservatives that the best way they could fight all this wokeness was by coming together to … send Herschel Walker to the Senate.
That didn’t work out so well. But it didn’t stop Scott from coming back in 2023 to join GOP senators including Josh Hawley, Mike Lee, Tim Scott, and some guy named JD Vance.
Reportedly, the biggest concern Trump had when it came to vetting potential 2024 running mates was whether they would go where his previous vice president did not. As The Washington Post wrote earlier this month, Vance “passed the central test Trump posed to his last vice-presidential pick, former Indiana governor Mike Pence: If asked, Vance has said that he would have tried to throw the 2020 election to Trump.”
Considering his deep association with the Heritage Foundation and Roberts, there’s no doubt that Vance would be there every step of the way to try and implement Project 2025’s nationalist takeover if he and Trump win the election in November.
And he’ll surely have help from some in Congress—including Rick Scott.
Help build Project 2024: Keeping Trump Out of the White House. Contribute $10 to the Kamala Harris campaign today
Vance even wrote the foreword for Heritage leader Kevin Roberts’ new book. The connections between Trump, Roberts, Vance, and the 900-page handbook for scrapping American democracy and replacing it with a Christian nationalist authoritarian government run deep.
But that doesn't mean Project 2025 is just about Trump. Because it takes more than the power of the White House to rip apart our institutions—at least at the start. To really get the wrecking balls flying, Project 2025 would also need some quislings in Congress. And few are more open about their support for the Heritage Foundation than Florida Sen. Rick Scott.
Scott is deeply connected with both Project 2025 and Roberts. It’s not just a matter of Scott praising Roberts (although that has certainly happened), or of Roberts praising Scott (although … that too).
This has been a long-term collaborative partnership. Scott has worked directly with Roberts and the Heritage Foundation to produce a video series blaming Democratic policies for the national debt without mentioning the effects of Republican tax policies. Scott’s video series also blamed inflation on President Joe Biden’s policies while ignoring the need to keep businesses and individuals solvent during the pandemic or the disaster that Trump left behind.
Scott has appeared on Roberts’ podcast to criticize investigations into Trump, and Roberts has praised Scott’s plan for fighting “woke extremism.” It’s no wonder why: With its nationwide ban on abortion, plan to replace public education with a voucher scheme, and of course “keeping men out of women’s sports” talking point, Scott’s 12-point agenda (which actually includes over 100 policy proposals) contains a lot of the same ideas as Project 2025.
In fact, Scott has already put the Heritage Foundation to work in the war on democracy. When he was governor of Florida, Scott hired the author of Project 2025’s chapter on election reform, attorney Hans von Spakovsky, to help conduct a purge of Florida’s voter rolls. Voter suppression has become critical to the GOP’s hold over Florida.
Two years ago, Scott and Roberts were side by side to promote Scott’s “plan for rescuing America.” Together they sold a paranoid vision of a drowning nation that could only be saved by “bold leadership.”
“Consider our situation in America today,” Scott said. “The militant left now controls the entire federal government, the news media, universities, Hollywood, big tech, and most corporate boardrooms. But they want more. They’re redefining America and silencing their opponents.”
Florida Sen. Rick Scott spoke at The Heritage Foundation on March 31, 2022.
Not only was Scott strangely able to speak up despite this so-called militant left, this was March 2022. Fox News, Newsmax, and One America News were all on the air. Elon Musk was a mere three weeks away from buying Twitter, and in Florida, schools and universities had already been swept clear of books and programs on American history under GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis’ “Stop WOKE act.” None of that stopped Scott from casting Republicans who dominated the majority of state legislatures as plucky underdogs.
Scott would be back at the Heritage Foundation in November for the Heritage Action Sentinel Summit, where he again spoke out against “radical woke indoctrination” and “the woke demands of the radical left who are destroying our country with debt, indoctrination, and socialism.” While there, he warned about “woke schools” and the “woke military.” And he told the gathered conservatives that the best way they could fight all this wokeness was by coming together to … send Herschel Walker to the Senate.
That didn’t work out so well. But it didn’t stop Scott from coming back in 2023 to join GOP senators including Josh Hawley, Mike Lee, Tim Scott, and some guy named JD Vance.
Reportedly, the biggest concern Trump had when it came to vetting potential 2024 running mates was whether they would go where his previous vice president did not. As The Washington Post wrote earlier this month, Vance “passed the central test Trump posed to his last vice-presidential pick, former Indiana governor Mike Pence: If asked, Vance has said that he would have tried to throw the 2020 election to Trump.”
Considering his deep association with the Heritage Foundation and Roberts, there’s no doubt that Vance would be there every step of the way to try and implement Project 2025’s nationalist takeover if he and Trump win the election in November.
And he’ll surely have help from some in Congress—including Rick Scott.
Help build Project 2024: Keeping Trump Out of the White House. Contribute $10 to the Kamala Harris campaign today