Former Pence adviser blasts Trump trying to distance himself from Project 2025: ‘Ludicrous’

Olivia Troye, formerly a national security adviser to Vice President Mike Pence, criticized former President Donald Trump’s efforts to distance himself from Project 2025 as “ludicrous,” highlighting its extensive ties to his administration.

“This is preposterous,” Troye said in a CNN interview. “If you look at the collaborators and the authors of this plan, a lot of these people came directly from people that served in Trump’s Cabinet during this administration.”

Project 2025, a Heritage Foundation initiative, aims to institutionalize “Trumpism” in the federal government by leveraging executive authority and dismantling some federal agencies.

Democrats have raised objections to several proposals within the project, notably the replacement of civil service positions with political appointees.

Last week, Trump said he knows “nothing about Project 2025” but also voiced disagreement with several of its pillars, arguing that some of the ideas are “ridiculous and abysmal.”

Paul Dans, former chief of staff at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management under Trump, leads the project.

Troye said former Trump administration officials Ben Carson and Ken Cuccinelli are actively involved in Project 2025.

“Ben Carson, come on! He’s been out there on the campaign trail with the president,” Troye said. “So I think this is just ludicrous.”

In addition, Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt appeared in one of Project 2025’s videos.

This initiative has also garnered support from allies such as Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT)

“But I think what this is telling us is that Donald Trump knows that what is written in this plan is so extreme that it is damaging to his possibility of getting elected,” Troye said. “And that’s what he’s concerned about.”

Troye argued that some of the project’s proposals, such as limits to abortion medication and plans to eliminate the Department of Education, are actually harmful to Trump’s campaign, which explains his distance from them.

“I am a conservative-leaning individual. I am a lifelong Republican. But when I think of the traditional tenets of the GOP, I think of fiscal conservatism, I think of individual liberties,” she said.

“And quite honestly, if you go through and really read through this plan, this is complete overreach by the federal government on our individual liberties,” she said.

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Biden’s campaign condemned Project 2025 as something that should “scare every American.”

“He’s trying to hide his connections to his allies’ extreme Project 2025 agenda,” Biden said. “The only problem? It was written for him by those closest to him.”