Joseph Zambon
During the NY23 congressional debate between Democratic candidate Thomas Carle and Republican incumbent Nicholas Langworthy, the contentious issue of Project 2025 took center stage.
Project 2025, The Presidential Transition Project, formally titled the “Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise” is publicly accessible and available for anyone to examine. Developed and published by the conservative Heritage Foundation, it outlines the strategic roadmap for a potential Trump presidency.
Critics argue it’s more than just a roadmap – they call it a blueprint for authoritarian (some say fascist) governance.
Langworthy’s claim of unfamiliarity with such a widely discussed and public document strains credulity, stretching the bounds of what voters can reasonably believe.
From the debate:
“My opponent is not going to protect Social Security,” Carle said. “Project 2025 calls for reductions, eliminations, privatization of a lot of those social safety net programs, including Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Snap, and go right down the list. Veterans’ benefits, and that is really a playbook for the second Trump administration if it would happen. So basically, it comes down to if you and President Trump win, America loses.”
“That is a very dishonest answer by my opponent,” Langworthy said. “I’m unfamiliar with Project 2025.
Langworthy’s Dubious Claim: “I’m Unfamiliar with Project 2025”
Rep. Nicholas Langworthy’s statement that he is “unfamiliar with Project 2025” is not credible. It’s implausible to believe that a sitting congressman, especially one on the powerful House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, could claim ignorance of a plan as pervasive as Project 2025.
Project 2025 is not a secret. It’s been widely discussed across all media platforms—cable news, talk radio, social media, and print outlets. The idea that a well-informed congressman such as Langworthy would be unaware of its existence stretches the limits of believability.
What’s more troubling is that Langworthy, after claiming ignorance, immediately contradicted himself by saying, “President Trump has denounced Project 2025. It is simply noise from the Democratic sound machine.”
“Unfamiliar” But Knows What Trump Said
How can he be unfamiliar with something he simultaneously asserts Trump has denounced? Langworthy’s attempt to distance himself from Project 2025 raises more questions than it answers.
To be clear, Trump hasn’t “denounced” Project 2025. In his debate with Vice President Harris, he said, “I have nothing to do with Project 2024…I haven’t read it. I don’t want to read it purposely. I’m not going to read it.”
Former President Clinton exposed that lie while campaigning for Kamala Harris when he said, “…and now he [former President Trump] says ‘who are these 2025 people. I don’t know them.’ Well, President Trump, 144 of the writers were in your administration. Just 144 of ‘em.”
Then President Clinton talked about the many people from the Trump administration who have endorsed Vice President Harris: “‘Bout that many. Over a hundred military and administration members from the Trump years have already endorsed Kamala Harris because they saw up close what happened to ordinary people. Don’t be fooled…”
The Carle-Langworthy Debate Continued…
“I want to make sure that we straighten out about you walking away from Project 2025,” Carle said.
“I’ve never read it,” Langworthy said, taking his cue from what former President Trump said during his only debate with Vice President Harris – “I haven’t read it. I don’t want to read it purposely. I’m not going to read it.”
“Well, maybe you didn’t read it, but you know of it,” Carle answered. “So, it was disingenuous for you to say that you don’t know anything about it. But J.D. Vance wrote the preface for it, and he’s the vice-presidential candidate, and he is the vice-presidential candidate with Donald Trump and 200 of the closest people in the Trump administration were the people who actually authored Project 2025,” Carle said.
“So, you can’t really walk away from that and say you don’t know anything about it, because you do. Now if you want to live up to, you know, Trump’s record, go ahead. But make sure you include the criminal side of it too,” Carle said.
“Can we go back to the original question?” Langworthy answered. [Trying to walk away from “it”.]
“Unfamiliar with Project 2025″? Not Likely
Rep. Nicholas Langworthy’s claim of being “unfamiliar with Project 2025” strains credibility. While it’s plausible he hasn’t read all 900-plus pages of the “Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise”– few have, given its length and less-than-polished prose. It’s inconceivable that Langworthy doesn’t know what Project 2025 is and what it contains.
As Thomas Carle and President Clinton rightly point out, many contributors to Project 2025 were members of the Trump administration. Republican Vice Presidential candidate J.D. Vance penned the preface.
Given his role as a sitting Congressman and his past leadership as chair of the New York Republican Party, Langworthy is undoubtedly aware of such a prominent initiative within Republican circles. He probably even knows some people who wrote the “Presidential Transition Project.”
It’s not uncommon for politicians to have “selective memory” depending on what serves their interests. Langworthy is, for example, a die-hard election denier, but he’s not talking about that – at least where it can be picked up by the media – during the current campaign.
In politics, withholding truth can be more compelling than sharing truth.
What Else is Rep. Langworthy Hiding from Us?