Biden campaign goes on attack over Trump allies' "Project 2025" vision
The Biden-Harris campaign plans to try to usurp "Project 2025" — the name of a well-funded Heritage Foundation effort to prepare for a second Trump administration — to brand warnings about the former president's policies.
Why it matters: President Biden's campaign tells me "Project 2025" resonates on social media, and in conversations with voters, as shorthand for what former President Trump would do if he won in November.
- So the Biden campaign's rapid-response architects are going to start using the term themselves.
Catch me up: You'll remember Project 2025 from a "Behind the Curtain" columns that Jim VandeHei and I wrote last year about efforts to pre-screen potential appointees if Trump wins, and to lay out potential policies.
The Trump campaign's formal policy plans are branded "Agenda47." The campaign has emphasized that outside efforts to influence a potential transition, including the Heritage project, are unofficial.
- Heritage says its 2025 Presidential Transition Project, part of a coalition of conservative organizations, is aimed at "the next conservative administration," with "institutionalizing Trumpism" as the ultimate aim.
What's next: In conjunction with tomorrow's State of the Union address, look for Biden campaign officials to unveil a slew of "Trump's Project 2025" documents, amplified through social channels.
- They'll use this frame to go after Trump on abortion, tax fairness, lowering health care and housing costs, and Social Security and Medicare.
Between the lines: Biden's speech will emphasize his vision — what he has done, and would do in a second term. The campaign is launching an extensive effort to paint the counterpart picture of what Trump would do.