Project 2025 architect reveals plan to "burn" US institutions to the ground in new book

New York, New York - The main figure behind conservatives' dystopian Project 2025 thinks public education, the Boy Scouts of America, and the New York Times "need to be burned."

Heritage Foundation president Kevin Roberts' new book includes proposals to burn US institutions such as the Department of Education and the FBI.
Heritage Foundation president Kevin Roberts' new book includes proposals to burn US institutions such as the Department of Education and the FBI.  © Chip Somodevilla / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP

That's only a partial list of the US institutions and organizations that far-right activist and Donald Trump ally Kevin Roberts singles out for incineration in his new book, Dawn's Early Light: Taking Back Washington to Save America, an advance copy of which was obtained by the Guardian.

Set to be published next week after outrage over its extreme proposals caused a long delay, the book lays out the vision of the man behind Project 2025, a masterplan for a potential second Trump presidency, which is now a reality.

Elaborating on some of the same proposals that even Trump felt forced to denounce unconvincingly, Roberts advocates for a "controlled burn" of anything that stands in the way of the far-right reshaping of the US.

Trump arrives in Paris to discuss how the "world is going a little crazy" with Macron and Zelensky
Donald Trump Trump arrives in Paris to discuss how the "world is going a little crazy" with Macron and Zelensky

This also includes the FBI, "every Ivy League College," and of course, the Chinese Communist Party – a who's who of conservative bugbears.

Though it's unclear how literal Roberts' words should be taken, violent imagery is part and parcel of the Heritage Foundation president's thinking. He has previously declared that "we are in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be."

It's his Project 2025 manifesto, though, that has caused the most alarm, due to its detailed plan for virtually dismantling the state and its institutions, replacing them with organizations and personnel that would allow Trump and his allies free rein to achieve their objectives.

Though both the president-elect and his running mate, JD Vance, have distanced themselves from Project 2025, they have long-established ties with Roberts.

Cover photo: Chip Somodevilla / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP

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