The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 has recently come under intense scrutiny, particularly after the presidential debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. Originally known only among policy experts, the project has now become a focal point in campaign speeches by Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, who have criticized it as a blueprint for a dystopian future under Trump.
During a recent campaign event in Houston, Harris condemned Project 2025, claiming it aims to return America to a “dark past” with extreme policies. “Can you believe they put this thing in writing? Nine hundred pages in writing,” she said, highlighting supposed plans to cut Medicare, Social Security, and end student loan forgiveness for public servants.
Project 2025, however, is not a novel concept. The Heritage Foundation has been producing policy recommendations for Republican presidents since Ronald Reagan. The project includes a variety of initiatives, from education to preparing personnel for presidential transitions. Critics mainly focus on the book it produced, “Mandate for Leadership – the Conservative Promise.”
Steven Groves, one of the co-editors of the book, spoke to the Washington Examiner about the backlash. He urged everyone to read the 900-page document available online for free. “The part that everyone’s been talking about, and the Left has been lying about, is our book,” Groves said. He emphasized that many criticisms from Democrats are baseless.
“Their interest is not in taking on a conservative think tank project,” Groves argued. “Their interest is in lying about that project and then attributing extreme policies to their political opponent, in this case, President Trump.”
Groves noted that the book was published in April 2023, long before any candidate declared their candidacy. He pointed out that the media coverage of the book was largely neutral until the debate made it a target.
“It wasn’t until it was crystal clear to everyone that Biden was going to lose and lose big that the Left, Biden, and Kamala decided to make a target out of the project, and then, by lying about it… try to tie it to President Trump,” Groves said. “President Trump doesn’t have anything to do with this project.”
Groves also addressed a viral graphic shared by actor Mark Hamill, which listed an alleged agenda of Project 2025, including a complete abortion ban and banning contraceptives. Project 2025 clarified that only five of the 31 items listed were true or partially true.
“It’s easy enough to go to our book that’s online,” Groves said. “Do Control F… if you want to put in Control F: abortion; Control F: marriage, you can find everything that we’ve written about those topics.”
Despite denials from Project 2025, Democrats remain adamant about its radical policy proposals and its connection to Trump. DNC National Press Secretary Emilia Rowland accused Trump of trying to distance himself from the project while hiding his true agenda.
Groves concluded by urging Republicans to ignore Democratic criticisms and stay united. “Don’t listen to the Left’s lies about Project 2025, don’t listen to Biden and Harris’s lies about Project 2025. If the Left and Harris are lying about it, then you have to realize that we’re over the target.”
