Marco Rubio says ‘shadow government’ runs America, downplays Donald Trump ties to Project 2025

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio says that while Joe Biden may hold the title of President, he’s not really leading the country.

Instead, a “shadow government” of unelected bureaucrats and consultants are steering America’s course behind the scenes, he said, adding that Donald Trump will end that arrangement on Day One of his second term.

“Donald Trump’s running on common sense,” Rubio told CNN’s Dana Bash on Sunday, “versus the lunacy of the last four years and the far left and the shadow government that’s now running our country with Joe Biden as its figurehead.”

Rubio’s comments came during talks about Project 2025, a comprehensive plan spearheaded by the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank to reshape the United States federal government and consolidate executive power with a Trump win this November.

The plan has attracted some negative attention in recent weeks for some of its extreme aims. Among other things, it proposes purging thousands of civil servants from federal agencies if their political leanings are deemed too liberal, slashing federal money for research and investment in renewable energy, reversing approval of the abortion pill mifepristone and banning pornography.

Democrats have tried to leverage Project 2025’s general unpopularity to convince undecided voters to back Biden, despite concerns about the incumbent President’s cognitive faculties.

Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts inadvertently helped them Tuesday, when he described Project 2025 as part of a “second American revolution” conservatives are waging that “will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be.” His statement attracted immediate blowback.

Trump, meanwhile, has tried since last year to distance himself from the plan, claiming on his Truth Social platform that he knows “nothing about Project 2025” or “who is behind it.”

“I disagree with some of the things they’re saying and some of the things they’re saying are absolutely ridiculous and abysmal,” he said. “Anything they do, I wish them luck, but I have nothing to do with them.”

Project 2025 personnel wrote on X Friday that the initiative “does not speak for any candidate or campaign” and that “it is ultimately up to (the) President, who we believe will be President Trump, to decide which (of the plan’s) recommendations to implement.”

Rubio, a top contender for Trump’s running mate, supported that assertion Sunday. He told Bash that while he agrees with “some of the things they stand for,” the Heritage Foundation and Project 2025 aren’t an official representation of Trump’s policy outlook.

“Think tanks do think tank stuff,” he said. “I’ve seen plenty of write-ups, frankly not just from left-wing think tanks but from columnists and others who are opinion writers who have actually come up with crazy ideas that are now the policies of the United States under Joe Biden.”

Asked to address Roberts’ comments, Rubio was similarly dismissive.

“He’s not running for President, is he?” he said. “I mean, our candidate’s Donald Trump. I didn’t see Donald Trump say that.”

Others aren’t as convinced there’s no connection between Trump and Project 2025. Democratic National Committee spokesperson Aida Ross pointed out recently that several past Trump administration officials — including Trump’s former Chief of Staff at the U.S. Office of Personnel and Management, Paul Dans; former Associate Directors of Presidential Personnel Spencer Chretien and Troup Hemenway; former White House aide Johnny McEntee; former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows; and former West Wing adviser Stephen Miller — are directly involved with the initiative.

Biden’s campaign also noted Friday that Karoline Leavitt, Trump’s campaign press secretary, has appeared in Project 2025 recruitment advertising.