Ex-Project 2025 chief slams Heritage head's 'violent talk'

Paul Dans‚ who led Project 2025 till last summer has spoken out against what he sees as “violent talk“ from Kevin Roberts‚ the Heritage Foundation President. Dans is asking JD Vance‚ the Republican vice-presidential pick‚ to take back the foreword he wrote for Roberts book.

Dans said in a chat‚ “If were going to ask the left to tone it down we have to do our part as well. Theres no place for this sort of violent rhetoric and bellicose taunting‚ especially in light of the fact that President Trump has now been subject to not one but two assassination attempts“

Roberts‚ whoʼs been in charge of the top conservative think tank since about 3 years ago made a statement on a pro-Trump podcast last summer. He talked about a “second American Revolution‚ which will remain bloodless‚ if the left allows it to be“. This was before a shooter tried to kill Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania (which happened roughly 3 months ago).

Roberts book cover had “Burning Down Washington“ on it with a picture of a match. Heritage spokesman Noah Weinrich said Roberts podcast comment was meant to warn about left-wing violence. “Any attempt to mischaracterize Dr. Roberts comments as supportive of violence is grotesque and completely contrary to the observation he was making‚“ he said.

Dans and Roberts didnʼt see eye-to-eye on how to run Project 2025 (a team-up of more than 100 right-wing groups that Heritage brought together and Dans ran). Dans puts most of the blame on Roberts for the backlash the project got. He says he told Roberts to avoid provocative interviews and over-the-top language‚ especially after the Trump campaign kept saying they werenʼt part of Project 2025 and told people to stop talking to reporters about plans for a second Trump administration. Over the summer Democrats turned Project 2025 into a shorthand for Trumps second-term plans and said voters should be against it.

Dans stated‚ “Theres really no place for this level of rhetoric let alone from the head of an august think tank. And by doing that hes essentially besmirched the professional reputations of everyone involved in Project 2025“

After the shooting at a Trump rally in Pennsylvania about 3 months ago‚ the promo text for Roberts book was changed to make some of the most inflammatory phrases softer. The subtitle changed from “Burning Down Washington“ to “Taking Back Washington‚“ and the match was taken off the cover.

Dr. Roberts initially was using a rhetorical turn of phrase to emphasize the need for certain aspects of the federal government to be restored to a citizen-centered balance‚ rather than being the captive of a small minority from the Left

The controversy around Project 2025 has been great for Heritageʼs fundraising helping them collect a record $150 million last year according to the groups public info. Even though Heritage publicly said Project 2025 was a $22 million project its actual budget was less than $2 million‚ according to people who know the figures.

Trump has said many times heʼs frustrated with Heritage and other think tanks like the America First Policy Institute and the Center for Renewing America that he thought were raising money off him. Project 2025 and the Heritage Foundation especially made Trump and his advisers angry because they kept promoting themselves while Democrats attacked more and more.

Howard Lutnick‚ a billionaire investor whoʼs co-chair of the official transition‚ said “Project 2025 is radioactive to the Trump-Vance transition. Zero. Total ban. Radioactive. Any of those words‚ feel free to pick them“

Dans said again that Trump was never involved in Project 2025. He called it ironic that the project has become a political problem for him‚ because Roberts first supported Ron DeSantis‚ Trumps rival in the GOP nominating contest. The Heritage Foundation showed off Project 2025s 900-page book of policy ideas at a 2023 conference that had DeSantis as the main speaker. Trump wasnʼt invited to that event. He has been part of other Heritage Foundation gatherings and flew with Roberts on a private plane to a summit about 2 years ago.

In August 2023‚ Roberts went to the DeSantis campaigns after-party at the first Republican presidential debate. He gave $1‚246.97 to DeSantis campaign. (Roberts and his wife have also given money to Trump.) Several Heritage staff members‚ including Roberts personal press secretary‚ left to work for DeSantis. Once the Florida governor dropped out of the race about 9 months ago‚ Roberts quickly changed focus‚ presenting Heritageʼs work as “institutionalizing Trumpism“

Weinrich stressed Heritageʼs nonprofit status‚ which limits partisan activities‚ to deny that the foundation favored candidates or worked with campaigns. “Heritage did not raise money in the name of staffing a second Trump administration‚“ he said.

Dans said he wished Trumps advisers had talked to them privately. But he insisted he never heard from them‚ disagreeing with earlier reports that said Trump co-campaign manager Susie Wiles complained to him and other Heritage leaders. The public warnings only drew more attention to the controversy‚ he said‚ and invited more Democratic attacks.

“We took the instruction as we had before‚ to lay low‚“ Dans said. “But in the case of Kevin‚ he didnt“

Roberts has shown no sign of changing course because of the criticism. At the New York Times Climate Forward conference about 3 weeks ago‚ he said‚ “We allowed the radical left to define the brand Project 2025. We should have — figuratively speaking — punched back. Lesson learned“