{"id":2367664,"date":"2024-11-12T10:13:01","date_gmt":"2024-11-12T15:13:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/heritage-leader-regrets-tactical-error-after-project-2025-backlash-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2024-11-12T10:15:06","modified_gmt":"2024-11-12T15:15:06","slug":"heritage-leader-regrets-tactical-error-after-project-2025-backlash-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/heritage-leader-regrets-tactical-error-after-project-2025-backlash-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Heritage leader regrets \u2018tactical error\u2019 after Project 2025 backlash &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fheritage-leader-regrets-tactical-error-after-project-2025-backlash-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2367664&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts expressed \u200cregret over the organization&#8217;s handling of the backlash following the release of &#8220;Project 2025,&#8221; a controversial policy agenda aimed at guiding\u200d the next Republican \u2062administration. In a Bloomberg Radio interview, Roberts acknowledged that the Heritage Foundation should have better countered the criticisms and mischaracterizations from the left in \u2063the early weeks \u200cafter the project&#8217;s launch. He admitted that the group made\u2062 a &#8220;tactical error&#8221; in their response and emphasized\u200b that while they take responsibility, the mischaracterizations are ultimately the fault of their critics.\u200c <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Project 2025,&#8221; released in April 2023, aims to set \u200ca policy \u200cblueprint for Republicans and has been criticized \u200cby figures like Vice President Kamala Harris,\u2064 who argued it threatens freedoms. \u2063Despite \u200chaving links to \u200cTrump\u2019s team, the former president distanced himself from the project \u2063during his campaign, which Roberts interpreted\u2062 as a necessary political maneuver. Roberts \u200dhighlighted the importance \u2062of aligning with voter priorities, such as border security, which he believes Trump \u2062will focus on following his electoral success.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Heritage leader regrets &lsquo;tactical error&rsquo; after Project 2025 backlash<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1771411\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>Heritage Foundation President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/author\/kevin-roberts\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Kevin Roberts<\/a> expressed regret over his organization&rsquo;s response to the backlash that ensued after he released the controversial <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/presidential\/3149577\/project-2025-kevin-roberts-trump-target-administrative-state-tucker-carlson\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Project 2025<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>During a <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/BloombergRadio\/status\/1856049990260666567\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Bloomberg Radio<\/a> interview on Monday, Roberts suggested that if he could have turned back the clock, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/heritage-foundation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Heritage Foundation\">Heritage Foundation<\/a> would have rolled out the conservative policy agenda differently and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/thats-a-dodge-martha-maccallum-presses-teachers-union-president-over-1619-project\/\" title=\"\u2018That\u2019s A Dodge\u2019: Martha MacCallum Presses Teachers\u2019 Union President Over 1619 Project\">pushed back immediately<\/a> against claims made by critics.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Kevin Roberts, president of the Heritage Foundation, talks about President-elect Donald Trump&#8217;s transition and the controversy surrounding the organization&rsquo;s Project 2025.<\/p>\n<p>Watch Bloomberg Radio LIVE on YouTube<br \/>Weekdays 7am-6pm ET<br \/>WATCH HERE: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/SR5zx3eIbk\">https:\/\/t.co\/SR5zx3eIbk<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ljP3EOqOvc\">pic.twitter.com\/ljP3EOqOvc<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Bloomberg Radio (@BloombergRadio) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BloombergRadio\/status\/1856049990260666567?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 11, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script> <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Roberts said he released <a href=\"https:\/\/www.project2025.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Project 2025<\/a> in order to &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">insert substantive policy conversations<\/a> into the political season&rdquo; and &ldquo;did not anticipate that the radical Left, which couldn&rsquo;t run on its record because it&rsquo;s terrible, would actually use that as the boogeyman and succeed in doing that.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;And look, we made a tactical error in not responding in the first six weeks to their total mischaracterizations. That&rsquo;s on us, but ultimately, the mischaracterizations are on the radical Left. That&rsquo;s a tactical lesson that we&rsquo;ve learned, and we&rsquo;ll never repeat that,&rdquo; he continued.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>As one of Washington&rsquo;s most prominent conservative think tanks, the Heritage Foundation unveiled Project 2025 in April 2023. Created to be a policy blueprint for the next Republican administration, the 900-page document provoked ire from Vice President Kamala Harris and other Democratic critics who<a href=\"https:\/\/kamalaharris.com\/project2025\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\"> said<\/a> it would &ldquo;strip away our freedoms.&rdquo; Harris made attacks on Project 2025 and efforts to connect it to President-elect Donald Trump a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/live-blog-posts\/dnc-preempts-trump-univision-townhall-billboard-campaign-latinos\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">central part<\/a> of her campaign.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Kevin Roberts, the president of the Heritage Foundation, speaks at the National Religious Broadcasters convention at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center on Feb. 22, 2024, in Nashville, Tennessee. (AP Photo\/George Walker IV, File)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Though one of his campaign&rsquo;s spokespeople was featured in a Project 2025 training video, Trump distanced himself from the policy document throughout the course of his campaign against Harris.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I know nothing about Project 2025,&rdquo; he posted on Truth Social in July. &ldquo;I have no idea who is behind it.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I disagree with some of the things they&rsquo;re saying, and some of the things they&rsquo;re saying are absolutely ridiculous and abysmal,&rdquo; he continued.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Roberts suggested that Trump&rsquo;s words came as a &ldquo;political calculation&rdquo; and that he made the remarks during his presidential campaign because he &ldquo;saw the branding as a liability in the political season.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;All of the political calculations of the last few months, which were very understandable and about which we have no hard feelings, are in the past,&rdquo; the Project 2025 mastermind said on Monday.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>With immigration policies being one of the Heritage Foundation&rsquo;s top priorities, the conservative organization recently saw a boost when Tom Homan, who helped author Project 2025, was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/immigration\/3225515\/trump-taps-tom-homan-border-czar\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">named<\/a> by Trump to be his &ldquo;border czar.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Commenting on the news during his Bloomberg interview, Roberts proposed that Trump&rsquo;s move to pick Homan was not necessarily a reflection on the Heritage Foundation but rather because of the &ldquo;mandate&rdquo; given by his presidential victory last week.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The most important thing &mdash; forget Tom&rsquo;s professional affiliation. Forget that he was a Project 2025 author. The most important thing is that he is aligned not just with President Trump but also with the American people, who want to bring an end to the ridiculous disorder on the southern border,&rdquo; Roberts said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>With polls showing concerns about the border consistently heading the list of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/freedom-caucus-bets-big-on-spending-proposal-in-gamble-to-boost-trump-and-gop-majority-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"Freedom Caucus bets big on spending proposal in gamble to boost Trump and GOP majority - Washington Examiner\">top voter issues<\/a> throughout the election cycle, Trump ran much of his campaign on the premise he would &ldquo;secure the border&rdquo; and put a stop to illegal immigration if elected.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>After he swept the Electoral College to win the presidential election,&nbsp;flipping six swing states red and winning the popular vote, Trump <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/presidential\/3220121\/trump-declares-victory-election-night-speech-read-full\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">called<\/a> the results &ldquo;a historic realignment, uniting citizens of all backgrounds around a common core of common sense.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;You know, we&rsquo;re the party of common sense. We want to have borders. We want to have security,&rdquo; Trump declared after saying that &ldquo;America has given us an unprecedented and powerful mandate.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Donald Trump victory speech:<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;America has given us an unprecedented and powerful mandate.&#8221;<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/DNnJcUfitD\">pic.twitter.com\/DNnJcUfitD<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; The American Conservative (@amconmag) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/amconmag\/status\/1854068984015884711?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 6, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>    <\/p>\n<p>With Trump looking to carry out his &ldquo;mandate,&rdquo; Roberts reiterated his belief that Project 2025 could be the means to help him do so.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I also would anticipate moving forward that the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mike-kelly-same-people-criticizing-trump-peddled-russia-collusion-hoax\/\" title=\"Mike Kelly: Same People Criticizing Trump Peddled Russia Collusion Hoax\">president-elect<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/breaking-republicans-meet-at-state-capitol-in-wisconsin-vote-for-gop-slate-of-electors\/\" title=\"BREAKING: Republicans Meet at State Capitol in Wisconsin \u2013 Vote for GOP Slate of Electors\">vice president-elect<\/a>, with whom we maintain great relationships, will also understand that it&rsquo;s the policymaking season that Heritage, and all of the other groups that are a part of our project, are built for,&rdquo; he said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Once again, totally up to the president-elect and vice president-elect. We operate in service to them and to the American people,&rdquo; Roberts continued. &ldquo;The American people have won here, and we look forward to playing whatever role, formally or informally, that we can to support that.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1771411\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1771411\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Heritage leader regrets response to Project 2025 backlash<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3142,"featured_media":2367665,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Kevin-Roberts.-.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[36848,5191,33997,44847],"class_list":["post-2367664","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-heritage-foundation","tag-leadership","tag-project-2025","tag-tactical-errors"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Kevin-Roberts.-.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2367664","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3142"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2367664"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2367664\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2367668,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2367664\/revisions\/2367668"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2367665"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2367664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2367664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2367664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}