Friday, April 18, 2025

Trump implementing Project 2025 for a Flashback Good Friday

Happy Flashback Good Friday! I'm looking back at last year's second most popular series after Randy Rainbow, Project 2025. I begin with The Wall Street Journal describing How Trump’s Policies Align With Project 2025: A Comparison.

President Trump distanced himself from Project 2025’s radical conservative vision on the campaign trail. Now, more than half of his executive orders including some on immigration and DEI policies align with recommendations made in the Heritage Foundation’s blueprint. Trump has even hired multiple key architects and contributors of Project 2025 to be in his administration.

WSJ explores some of the notable ways Trump’s first few months are aligning with Project 2025 – and what that can tell us about his second term.
I begin my reaction by recycling what I first wrote in MSNBC examines Project 2025, part 5.
"I know nothing about Project 2025" — Convicted criminal Hoover Cleveland is doing his best Sergeant Schultz impression about Project 2025.
As for Hoover Cleveland (un)truthing "I have no idea who is behind [Project 2025]," check out MSNBC's list of chapter authors.
All of them have worked for him, so of course he's lying. He's not fooling anyone but himself and his most devoted followers.
...
I leave my readers with the following list Digby embedded in Incomplete Cheat Sheet.
As I've written before, yikes! No wonder it's unpopular!
I last included this list in Vox explains 'Why the US has birthright citizenship' and commented, "Look at the list and notice how many of these Hoover Cleveland is already trying to enact. It's not as if people like Digby and me didn't do our best to warn Americans!"

Shortly after WSJ uploaded the above, MSNBC reported Tracker says Trump has already implemented nearly half of Project 2025 policies.

On the campaign trail, President Trump distanced himself from the writers and content of Project 2025, but just two months into his presidency, much of what was laid out in the sprawling document has been enacted. Atlantic staff writer David Graham, who has written on Project 2025, joins Katy Tur to discuss how far along the Trump administration is in the conservative playbook.
In addition to mentioning unitary executive "theory" (I'm a scientist, so I won't let that usage go uncontested, even if it's proper in constitutional law) and possible use of the zombie Comstock Act, Katy Tur and David Graham shared this graphic.


That's after only two months! Angelo Carusone on tracking Project 2025 and right-wing media remarked on both the unitary executive and the speed of implementation as a guest on PBS NewsHour.

Project 2025, the conservative policy project, became a flashpoint during the presidential campaign. Angelo Carusone of Media Matters studied the 900-page document and spoke with Geoff Bennett for our series, On Democracy, where we hear a range of perspectives on how government should function, what led to this moment in American history and where the country goes next.
I attribute the rapidity of its implementation to Trump's "shock and awful" and especially "Elon Musk's...Chainsaw Massacre of our federal workforce." Russell Vought wouldn't have moved this fast.

Carusone and PBS News host Geoff Bennett also shared this graphic.


That illustrates the problem for Democrats and other resisters; a lot of people get their news and views from podcasts and videos and the overwhelming majority learn right. The stat that 32% of Americans get their news from YouTube now compared to 23% in 2020 shows the effect of the pandemic on Americans' media diet. I resemble that remark, as I'm using YouTube uploads of mainstream media here on my blog instead of watching the newscasts directly. I hope my curation helps direct my readers to good sources of news!

Follow over the jump for a retrospective of the top posts examining Project 2025.


MSNBC examines Project 2025, part 2 from June 27, 2024 earned its page views first by Steve in Manhattan sharing the link at Crooks and Liars at the end of June and then by me sharing the link at the Coffee Party USA/Citizen Connect Facebook page to start July. Both helped the entry earn 901 default and 938 raw page views during July to rank first for July and 968 default and 1000 raw over two months. The entry ended the 2024-2025 blogging year with 938 default and 1,115 raw page views to rank fourth overall and third among entries posted during the blogging year.


MSNBC examines Project 2025, part 1 from June 26, 2024 earned its page views in waves. First, Steve in Manhattan linked to this entry in Mike’s Blog Round-Up at Crooks & Liars at the end of June, which helped it garner 168 default and 169 raw page views to rank sixth overall by the former, seventh overall by the second and sixth among entries posted during June 2024. Then I shared it at the Coffee Party USA/Citizen Connect Facebook page followed by tweeting it again on July 2, 2024. It earned 165 impressions and 12 engagements (most for July and second most for year), including 5 retweets (most for July), 3 likes (most for July), 2 detail expands (most for month and tied for most during year), and 1 profile visit (most for month and second most for year). Along with residual traffic from Crooks and Liars, it earned 659 default and 679 raw page views to rank second overall during July 2025, the second month in top 20 with 829 default and 848 raw page views over two months.

I tweeted the link again on September 6, 2024, earning 966 views (most for month and third for one of my tweets with link), 20 likes (most for month and year), 9 retweets (most for month and year), and 2 replies in 1 thread. I had shared it earlier on September 1, 2024, earning 8 replies in 1 thread (tied for most replies in a thread during year) and 1 like on 63 views. The link ended the 2024-2025 blogging year with 678 default and 954 raw page views to rank fifth overall the first measure, sixth by the second, and fourth among entries posted during the blogging year.


I shared MSNBC examines Project 2025, part 4 from July 5, 2024 at the Coffee Party USA/Citizen Connect Facebook page. I also tweeted it that same day, earning 22 impressions, 1 retweet, and 6 replies in 5 threads (tied for most replies for month and most threads for month and year). Both combined for 532 default and 548 raw page views during July 2024, ranking it third overall and first among entries posted that month. It ended the blogging year with 556 default and 602 raw page views, ranking it seventh overall by the first measure, 14th overall by the second, and tenth among entries posted between March 21, 2024 and March 20, 2025.


MSNBC examines Project 2025, part 5 had the most views on Instagram during the blogging year, 24. It also had 3 likes.


Crooks and Liars, operated by driftglass, shared The BBC World Service examines 'How the US election could change our climate' plus MSNBC on Project 2025 and climate from October 12, 2024 on October 15, 2024, earning ~1,100 views (tied for second most views on a mention), 2 likes, 2 retweets (tied for most during October 2024), and 1 reply in 1 thread for top mention. The original post on October 12, 2024 earned 36 views, 1 like, 1 retweet, and 1 reply. The reply earned 33 views, 1 like, and 2 reposts (tied for most during October 2024).

That completes the retrospectives for this week. Stay tuned for a short evergreen post tomorrow. Today's post wore me out and I'm leading a field trip tomorrow.

Previous posts in this series Previous retrospectives about the 2024 election
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