CNN’s Sara Sidner Shades Trump For Claiming He Hasn’t Seen Project 2025: ‘Most of the Public Has Seen It, It’s Out There’
CNN reported on Thursday that more than 140 allies of former President Donald Trump have their names attached to Project 2025, the controversial plan from the right-wing Heritage Foundation for Trump’s second term that he has denied being associated with.
CNN’s Steve Contorno spoke to anchor Sara Sidner about the report that uncovered 140 names of people who have worked with Trump in some capacity, including close advisors, attorneys, and cabinet secretaries. He wrote in his report on CNN.com:
Six of his former Cabinet secretaries helped write or collaborated on the 900-page playbook for a second Trump term published by the Heritage Foundation. Four individuals Trump nominated as ambassadors were also involved, along with several enforcers of his controversial immigration crackdown. And about 20 pages are credited to his first deputy chief of staff. …
Dozens more who staffed Trump’s government hold positions with conservative groups advising Project 2025, including his former chief of staff Mark Meadows and longtime adviser Stephen Miller. These groups also include several lawyers deeply involved in Trump’s attempts to remain in power, such as his impeachment attorney Jay Sekulow and two of the legal architects of his failed bid to overturn the 2020 presidential election, Cleta Mitchell and John Eastman.
Trump has repeatedly tried to distance himself from Project 2025 despite having close ties with many of the people behind it. But Sidner found it even more “surprising” that Trump was denying he ever even saw it considering the copious news coverage Project 2025 has gotten:
Contorno: We took this information to the Trump campaign. They said, look, these people may have worked for Donald Trump in the past, but they don’t work for him now. They certainly don’t speak for him. The party platform, as well as the agenda he has posted on his website, is what he is looking to do in a second term. Trump himself responding to all these attempts to link him to the Project 2025 by Democrats on social media this morning. He posted, “I know nothing about Project 2025. I have not seen it. I have no idea who is in charge of it. And unlike our very well received Republican Platform, had nothing to do with it.” He then went on to criticize Democrats for trying to link him to some of Project 2025’s more controversial policies. That’s not going to end anytime soon, though, Sara.
Sidner: Surprising he says he hasn’t seen it when most of the public has seen it. It is out there.
Watch the video above via CNN.
Have a tip we should know? tips@mediaite.com
