Have opinions on Project 2025 changed since Trump distanced himself? What poll found
Awareness of and opposition to Project 2025 — a conservative policy platform — have grown significantly in the past month, according to new polling.
In the latest poll from Navigator Research, a progressive research organization, 54% of respondents said they were familiar with Project 2025, which is up from 29% from its June survey.
Forty-three percent of respondents said they have an unfavorable view of the project, which is more than double the 19% unfavorable rating from June.
The poll, conducted between July 11 and 14, sampled 1,000 registered voters and has a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.
More key findings
Seventy-one percent of Democratic respondents expressed having an awareness of Project 2025, according to the poll. And 64% of Democratic respondents said they have an unfavorable view of it, while just 7% have a favorable view and 29% said they don’t know.
Twenty-eight percent of independents said they have an unfavorable view, while 8% have a favorable view and the majority, 64%, said they don’t know.
The poll broke GOP respondents into two groups — MAGA Republicans and non-MAGA Republicans. Nineteen percent of MAGA Republican respondents said they had an unfavorable view of the project, while 20% said they favored it and 61% were not sure. Meanwhile, 32% of non-MAGA Republicans said they had an unfavorable view, while 13% had a favorable opinion and 55% were unsure.
The poll also found that, before reading any messaging surrounding it, 46% of respondents oppose Project 2025, while 12% support it and 42% are not sure.
Additionally, nearly half of respondents, 45%, said the project “accurately describes what (former President Donald) Trump stands for.” Sixteen percent said it does not describe what he stands for, and 39% said they don’t know.
More on Project 2025
The poll comes several weeks after Trump, the GOP presidential nominee, distanced himself from Project 2025.
“I know nothing about Project 2025,” he wrote in a July 5 post on Truth Social. “I have no idea 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. Anything they do, I wish them luck, but I have nothing to do with them.”
Spearheaded by the Heritage Foundation, a right-leaning think tank, the project provides a blueprint for the next president to overhaul the executive branch to “rescue the country from the grip of the radical Left.”
The project, which is led by several members of Trump’s former administration, contains some controversial proposals, including restricting access to abortion and dismantling the Department of Homeland Security, according to previous reporting from McClatchy News.
President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign — which was suspended on July 21 — said the project would usher in “a sweeping takeover of the federal government to consolidate power under Donald Trump.”
This story was originally published July 23, 2024 at 4:49 PM with the headline "Have opinions on Project 2025 changed since Trump distanced himself? What poll found."