Transcript of Combatting Controversy: Project 2025 Explained | RNC Extra

The Heritage Foundation has played an increasingly prominent role in Republican administrations, including by helping to inform policy and personnel decisions. The foundation's new project, 2025, hopes to resource a Trump administration in a more comprehensive way than ever before, but it's also generated some controversy and criticism from Democrats and the legacy media. In this episode, we sit down with the President of the Heritage Foundation, Kevin Roberts, to discuss the project and how the national landscape has changed after the momentous developments of this week. I'm Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief John Bickley. It's Thursday, July 18th, and this is an RNC Extra Edition of Morning Wire.

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Joining us now the project doesn't just discuss, but lays out in a very think tank way in terms of the policy plan that would exist. And ultimately, to sum up, when people actually learn about Project 2025, invariably, they write us and say, Gosh, this isn't bad at all. It makes a lot of common sense. Right.Now, part of this process has been vetting people that could go into the administration and be very effective, hit the ground running. Can you talk about that process?Yeah, in a lot of ways, that's the most important thing. This is motivated by Ronald Reagan's comment that people are policy. And so what we decided to do two and a half years ago when we embarked on this very ambitious project was to assemble a personnel database, not just for the next presidential administration, and not just for the presidential administrations that follow, but for the conservative movement period. And the reason we have done that is because as I travel the country, people tell me, Kevin, we would like a plan, and I want to be part of that plan if the President and his people choose. The conservative movement has never had this apparatus. The left has had this forever. By the way, one of the reasons the left is so apoplectic is that we've simply taken a page out of their playbook by putting together this database for people. We have close to 14,000 Americans who have submitted their names their resumes. They've gone through the training for potential positions, all of that up to the next administration, obviously. But the key thing is they're apoplectic because this is a threat to their power. What, in other words, is a threat to their power?That individual everyday Americans want to be part of the process rather than sit on the sidelines. So the project isn't going anywhere.How confident do you feel that Trump is going to use this as a resource in his new administration if he wins?I'm confident, but not presumptuous, right? The whole point of Project 2025 is not to be presumptuous. The whole point of Project 2025 is merely to assemble the policies and the personnel, knowing that great ideas and great people rise to the top. President Trump is one of the greatest CEOs in modern history, both as President and as business leader. He and his people will make those determinations, but I think the ideas and the people will speak for themselves. We'll see in two or four or six years what percentage of them have been hired or implemented, and whatever that is, is fine. The key thing is this project represents the entire conservative grassroots movement. So for that reason, not because of the label Project 2025, we're confident that to some extent or another, those ideas and people will be part of the mix.How well does Project 2025 align with the GOP platform?Overwhelmingly so. As I like to tell people, there are three lanes. There's the Trump campaign, there's the RNC and the RNC platform, and then there's Project 2025. In other words, the grassroots movement. As you would expect, because all three of those lanes are dominated by a conservative philosophy, there's tremendous overlap. There are certainly some differences of opinion, but if I get two Conservatives together, I have never gotten 100% agreement. We're not like the collectivist left where we have to march in lockstep. The point is not to get unanimity of opinion. The point is to present a menu of options. If the President chooses one of those options for him and for his advisors to know there's actually not just a plan, but there is support from the conservative movement, what we like to call air cover in terms of communications and messaging and media, rather than the movement being caught flat-footed by Trump's great instincts in 2016 and 2017.Right. Now, this week, I wanted to step back. This has been a momentous week on so many levels. We had an event over the weekend that really shocked the nation, shocked the world, and changed the equation in many ways for both campaigns. How do you think the events of this last week, including that ruling by Judge Eileen Canon, have affected the strategy, the mood of the voters, of the parties? How have things changed?In a couple of ways, the first is the obvious, which is regardless of someone's politics, we don't want any of our political leaders being assassinated. It's always awful for the United States. I believe that about the vast, vast majority of people on the political left. They don't want that to happen. There are a couple of crazies, but that's not all of them. So there's this mood of being somber about what almost happened in addition to the tragic loss of life with Cory Kampantour. But the second thing is, interestingly, over the last few days, there's this emerging energy. Maybe because people see the hand of providence in this. I know President Trump does. We see that emotional moment when he stepped out onto the convention floor for the first time. It was emotional even for him. Americans realized this, that moment, maybe Donald Trump as a person, really do exemplify this crossroads juncture that we're at in America. And up until that point, Americans were really pessimistic about what that path might look like. But now they see in their fellow Americans the faith and trust we've had most of our lifetimes, regardless of politics. If those of us who are involved in politics and policymaking do a good job, political leaders, unelected people like me and my colleagues at the Heritage Foundation, of saying, this is the moment, let's be hopeful, let's be resolute, then I actually think we're going to see the ushering in of a golden era, not just of conservative policy, but also of faithfulness in this country.And that should make us really hopeful in this moment.Certainly a good message to hear. And we're so appreciative of you coming here and talking with us, and we'll talk soon. Thank you so much for joining us.I'm a huge fan and subscriber, so I just love being here.That's what I was fishing for. I knew it. All right. That was Kevin Roberts, President of the Heritage Foundation. And this has been an extra edition of MorningWire..

the project doesn't just discuss, but lays out in a very think tank way in terms of the policy plan that would exist. And ultimately, to sum up, when people actually learn about Project 2025, invariably, they write us and say, Gosh, this isn't bad at all. It makes a lot of common sense. Right.

Now, part of this process has been vetting people that could go into the administration and be very effective, hit the ground running. Can you talk about that process?

Yeah, in a lot of ways, that's the most important thing. This is motivated by Ronald Reagan's comment that people are policy. And so what we decided to do two and a half years ago when we embarked on this very ambitious project was to assemble a personnel database, not just for the next presidential administration, and not just for the presidential administrations that follow, but for the conservative movement period. And the reason we have done that is because as I travel the country, people tell me, Kevin, we would like a plan, and I want to be part of that plan if the President and his people choose. The conservative movement has never had this apparatus. The left has had this forever. By the way, one of the reasons the left is so apoplectic is that we've simply taken a page out of their playbook by putting together this database for people. We have close to 14,000 Americans who have submitted their names their resumes. They've gone through the training for potential positions, all of that up to the next administration, obviously. But the key thing is they're apoplectic because this is a threat to their power. What, in other words, is a threat to their power?

That individual everyday Americans want to be part of the process rather than sit on the sidelines. So the project isn't going anywhere.

How confident do you feel that Trump is going to use this as a resource in his new administration if he wins?

I'm confident, but not presumptuous, right? The whole point of Project 2025 is not to be presumptuous. The whole point of Project 2025 is merely to assemble the policies and the personnel, knowing that great ideas and great people rise to the top. President Trump is one of the greatest CEOs in modern history, both as President and as business leader. He and his people will make those determinations, but I think the ideas and the people will speak for themselves. We'll see in two or four or six years what percentage of them have been hired or implemented, and whatever that is, is fine. The key thing is this project represents the entire conservative grassroots movement. So for that reason, not because of the label Project 2025, we're confident that to some extent or another, those ideas and people will be part of the mix.

How well does Project 2025 align with the GOP platform?

Overwhelmingly so. As I like to tell people, there are three lanes. There's the Trump campaign, there's the RNC and the RNC platform, and then there's Project 2025. In other words, the grassroots movement. As you would expect, because all three of those lanes are dominated by a conservative philosophy, there's tremendous overlap. There are certainly some differences of opinion, but if I get two Conservatives together, I have never gotten 100% agreement. We're not like the collectivist left where we have to march in lockstep. The point is not to get unanimity of opinion. The point is to present a menu of options. If the President chooses one of those options for him and for his advisors to know there's actually not just a plan, but there is support from the conservative movement, what we like to call air cover in terms of communications and messaging and media, rather than the movement being caught flat-footed by Trump's great instincts in 2016 and 2017.

Right. Now, this week, I wanted to step back. This has been a momentous week on so many levels. We had an event over the weekend that really shocked the nation, shocked the world, and changed the equation in many ways for both campaigns. How do you think the events of this last week, including that ruling by Judge Eileen Canon, have affected the strategy, the mood of the voters, of the parties? How have things changed?

In a couple of ways, the first is the obvious, which is regardless of someone's politics, we don't want any of our political leaders being assassinated. It's always awful for the United States. I believe that about the vast, vast majority of people on the political left. They don't want that to happen. There are a couple of crazies, but that's not all of them. So there's this mood of being somber about what almost happened in addition to the tragic loss of life with Cory Kampantour. But the second thing is, interestingly, over the last few days, there's this emerging energy. Maybe because people see the hand of providence in this. I know President Trump does. We see that emotional moment when he stepped out onto the convention floor for the first time. It was emotional even for him. Americans realized this, that moment, maybe Donald Trump as a person, really do exemplify this crossroads juncture that we're at in America. And up until that point, Americans were really pessimistic about what that path might look like. But now they see in their fellow Americans the faith and trust we've had most of our lifetimes, regardless of politics. If those of us who are involved in politics and policymaking do a good job, political leaders, unelected people like me and my colleagues at the Heritage Foundation, of saying, this is the moment, let's be hopeful, let's be resolute, then I actually think we're going to see the ushering in of a golden era, not just of conservative policy, but also of faithfulness in this country.

And that should make us really hopeful in this moment.

Certainly a good message to hear. And we're so appreciative of you coming here and talking with us, and we'll talk soon. Thank you so much for joining us.

I'm a huge fan and subscriber, so I just love being here.

That's what I was fishing for. I knew it. All right. That was Kevin Roberts, President of the Heritage Foundation. And this has been an extra edition of MorningWire..