As we continue to sift through Donald Trump‘s populist claims and outright falsehoods, Barbra Streisand is taking a moment to consider the implications of his election, and what some of his more troubling plans would encompass.
If four years of Trump being in charge of the largest nuclear football in the world taught us anything, it’s that there are no morally depraved depths to which he wouldn’t sink. In some ways, the Republican presidential campaigner is one of the greatest con artists in history, if for nothing besides convincing millions of people that as the only president in history to have been convicted of a felony, not to mention dozens of other offenses like sexual abuse, defamation, and financial fraud, he actually has their best interests at heart.
But if Trump was simply acting the megalomaniac during his first term, he’s going to be much more unhinged this time around, with the potential intent of using the Executive Office of the President to settle scores and make his powerful associates even more powerful.
The initiative known as Project 2025, in particular, is drawing a lot of attention to itself lately. A set of policy proposals by the right-wing Heritage Foundation, most having been put together by former Trump aides and Republicans closely associated with his cause, Project 2025 aims to consolidate the president’s executive power by essentially replacing tens of thousands of federal civil workers with people loyal to the president.
As you’d expect, this is raising alarm bells everywhere, and the latest person to offer their thoughts on the matter is the legendary Barbra Streisand, who is bringing attention to a few wildly elitist proposals found in Project 2025.
You may find the notion baffling, but putting pressure on the middle class and giving billionaires tax leeway is something Trump has already tried before. And I think if you go through the mandate, this will be among the least concerning things in there. Streisand isn’t exaggerating when she says it’s a “recipe for an authoritarian theocracy,” because a major push of Project 2025 is to bring Christian nationalist values to the forefront of the government’s executive branch, undermining concepts like the separation of church and state, while promoting philosophies like theocratic enforcement of religious values.
In short, Project 2025 is a surefire way of regressing even further to the dark ages. Trump may not be sure about where he stands as far as Christianity is concerned, but you can bet that he isn’t simply going to throw away his long-time associates, especially not if it means he’s going to have more power over the government when all of this is through.