Project 2025 architect Paul Dans to challenge Lindsey Graham for Senate in South Carolina
Dans told CNN he will formally launch his campaign with a prayer breakfast Wednesday in Charleston.
Graham, a close friend of President Donald Trump's, is seeking a fifth term and already has the president's backing. Dans, though, said there is room for a Republican candidate to prove they are more loyal to and aligned with Trump than Graham.
'He's a 70-year-old childless warmonger and he has no stake in the future of this country,' Dans said. 'He is the very reason that MAGA started in the first place, and we only have to look at 2016 when he was a vehement Trump hater. A leopard doesn't change its spots.'
Dans went on to rebuke Graham for voting to confirm judicial nominees put forth by Barack Obama and Joe Biden during their presidencies and for his past remarks affirming Russia's attempts to interfere in the 2016 election, signaling some potential future attacks during the primary campaign.
Former South Carolina Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer is also running in the GOP primary against Graham.
A veteran of the first Trump administration, Dans spent the next few years at the Heritage Foundation. There, he spearheaded Project 2025, a right-wing roadmap for the next Republican president put together by more than 100 conservative organizations in the lead up to the 2024 election. It included a 900-page manifesto full of policy prescriptions that provided Democrats with ample fodder to attack Trump during the presidential campaign.
As criticism intensified, Trump distanced himself from Project 2025 and Dans was pushed out of Heritage. However, a CNN review found many of Trump's early actions as president aligned with Project 2025's proposals. Dans suggested the blueprint – once seen as a liability for Trump – could demonstrate his MAGA credentials to South Carolina Republican voters.
'I was able to work with thousands of patriots who came together and put in that labor to make the next conservative president hit the ground day one. And that's what President Trump and his team did,' Dans said. 'It's gratifying to see these ideas preserved and put into action. But to be clear, the battle goes on.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
7 minutes ago
- Yahoo
This Reddit Post Breaking Down A MAGA Dad's "Awakening" From Two-Time Trump Voter To Trump Critic Is Going Viral
A Reddit post by a user who claims their father voted for Donald Trump twice has recently gone viral for revealing what finally turned their MAGA dad into a Trump critic. At the start of the post, the redditor explained what initially attracted their father to Donald Trump during the 2016 campaign. "What got him into Trump was the first primary debate he participated in, in which he brutally attacked Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, and the others..." Related: They went on to explain that their father, a business owner, personally benefited from Trump's tax cuts, which made his view of Trump's first presidency a "success," despite events like January 6. According to the redditor, things started to change for their father when Trump's tariff war threw his business into "disarray." Related: The negative financial impact of Trump's tariff war made their father seek out more "accurate reporting" of Trump, and the new information "awakened" him. Related: "He wishes Trump would stop being such an idiotic fuckup." And finally, the post ended with the redditor's realization about changing the minds of "casual Trump voters." "You can bring all that stuff up, and they'll just wave it off. But as soon as he does do something harmful that affects them, they can be turned." After reading the post, people in the comments shared their perspective on "uniformed voters" who supported Trump. "I just think so many people drank the 'John Wayne' kool aid in the Reaganite '80s, the idea that, like the lone gunslinger, Americans are singular, self sufficient individuals, not members of a society. So many in the U.S. bought that BS wholesale, like this guy's Dad," one user wrote. "He thinks he only need care about his business, his family and his bikes, but he forgets that for businesses to flourish he needs society at large to be healthy, he needs trade rules to be enforced, and he needs stability in trade hates paying taxes, but never thinks about why the roads are maintained, why water comes out of the tap or electricity out of the socket. He's been trained and rewarded to see himself as a lone entity, independent of all social bonds. Now he's been uncomfortably reminded he is part of an interdependent society, but I'm sure he'll forget the reminder soon enough. Individualism is too deeply ingrained in his psyche for him to abandon it now." Related: "Everyone keeps saying 'they voted for this.' But in reality, some didn't. There are lots of uninformed voters out there. I'm not excusing it, but it's true. My dad is the same way," another user admitted. "He liked the sound bites he saw about draining the swamp and liked the idea of a businessman instead of a career politician. My dad is woefully misinformed and wouldn't listen to me either. But he's not an evil monster. Just complacent and kinda ignorant. He's also 83, so there's that." "They're not going to figure out Trump sucks until they get burned by the hot stove," this user wrote. "I think there is a large portion of classic Republicans, not the MAGA people, who probably just didn't give a shit about most of Trump's agenda harming other people." And finally, "I feel like the real takeaway from this is that the dad is against something Trump did, but still doesn't regret his vote." "The popular Reddit sentiment is that conservatives are feeling regret now that his policies are hurting them, but the actual sad truth is that given the opportunity at a revote, they'd probably vote for Trump again because they're convinced Harris would've still been worse or as bad as Trump anyway," another user wrote. What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments below. Also in Internet Finds: Also in Internet Finds: Also in Internet Finds:
Buzz Feed
8 minutes ago
- Buzz Feed
MAGA Dad's Viral Journey Away From Trump
A Reddit post by a user who claims their father voted for Donald Trump twice has recently gone viral for revealing what finally turned their MAGA dad into a Trump critic. At the start of the post, the redditor explained what initially attracted their father to Donald Trump during the 2016 campaign. "What got him into Trump was the first primary debate he participated in, in which he brutally attacked Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, and the others..." They went on to explain that their father, a business owner, personally benefited from Trump's tax cuts, which made his view of Trump's first presidency a "success," despite events like January 6. According to the redditor, things started to change for their father when Trump's tariff war threw his business into "disarray." The negative financial impact of Trump's tariff war made their father seek out more "accurate reporting" of Trump, and the new information "awakened" him. "He wishes Trump would stop being such an idiotic fuckup." And finally, the post ended with the redditor's realization about changing the minds of "casual Trump voters." "You can bring all that stuff up, and they'll just wave it off. But as soon as he does do something harmful that affects them, they can be turned." After reading the post, people in the comments shared their perspective on "uniformed voters" who supported Trump. "I just think so many people drank the 'John Wayne' kool aid in the Reaganite '80s, the idea that, like the lone gunslinger, Americans are singular, self sufficient individuals, not members of a society. So many in the U.S. bought that BS wholesale, like this guy's Dad," one user wrote. "He thinks he only need care about his business, his family and his bikes, but he forgets that for businesses to flourish he needs society at large to be healthy, he needs trade rules to be enforced, and he needs stability in trade hates paying taxes, but never thinks about why the roads are maintained, why water comes out of the tap or electricity out of the socket. He's been trained and rewarded to see himself as a lone entity, independent of all social bonds. Now he's been uncomfortably reminded he is part of an interdependent society, but I'm sure he'll forget the reminder soon enough. Individualism is too deeply ingrained in his psyche for him to abandon it now." "Everyone keeps saying 'they voted for this.' But in reality, some didn't. There are lots of uninformed voters out there. I'm not excusing it, but it's true. My dad is the same way," another user admitted. "He liked the sound bites he saw about draining the swamp and liked the idea of a businessman instead of a career politician. My dad is woefully misinformed and wouldn't listen to me either. But he's not an evil monster. Just complacent and kinda ignorant. He's also 83, so there's that." "They're not going to figure out Trump sucks until they get burned by the hot stove," this user wrote. And finally, "I feel like the real takeaway from this is that the dad is against something Trump did, but still doesn't regret his vote." "The popular Reddit sentiment is that conservatives are feeling regret now that his policies are hurting them, but the actual sad truth is that given the opportunity at a revote, they'd probably vote for Trump again because they're convinced Harris would've still been worse or as bad as Trump anyway," another user wrote. What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments below.
New York Times
10 minutes ago
- New York Times
Trump Lashes Out at Charlamagne Tha God Over Epstein Comments
President Trump railed at the radio host and author Charlamagne Tha God early Sunday morning, after the host said that the administration's handling of information related to Jeffrey Epstein was fueling a 'coup' in the Republican Party. 'I think that traditional conservatives are going to take the Republican Party back,' Charlamagne said on a Fox News program on Saturday hosted by Lara Trump, the president's daughter-in-law and a former co-chair of the Republican Party. 'I think there's a political coup going on right now in the Republican Party that people aren't paying attention to,' Charlamagne said. Mr. Trump posted on Truth Social early Sunday, saying that Charlamagne 'knows nothing about me or what I have done.' Mr. Trump was friendly for nearly 15 years with Mr. Epstein, the disgraced multimillionaire financier and convicted sex offender who died in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. The Trump administration has been lambasted for its refusal to release the federal files of Mr. Epstein's case, after the president and top officials had for months suggested that they would expose hidden truths about his death. The reversal triggered outrage among Mr. Trump's most ardent supporters. Charlamagne, who was born Lenard McKelvey and is best known as a host of the popular radio show 'The Breakfast Club,' said in the interview on Saturday that the episode meant that 'traditional conservatives' could 'probably take their party back' without angering the president's MAGA base. 'I think they're going to do that,' he said. Ms. Trump was skeptical. Charlamagne, who interviewed Kamala Harris before the 2024 election, went on to acknowledge that 'Donald Trump is a once-in-a-lifetime, one-on-one political juggernaut,' but maintained that 'we have the opportunity to have, like, a huge reset.' Charlamagne also said on Ms. Trump's program that the comedian Jon Stewart should run for president in 2028, and have his fellow late-night TV host Stephen Colbert as his running mate, 'because Colbert's not going to have a job,' referring to the announcement by CBS that it was canceling his show.
